


Into The Fire

by DeanstielsDaughter



Series: In My Hands [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Children, Character Death, End of the World, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Family Feels, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Love, M/M, Male Slash, Monsters, Post Mpreg, Pregnancy, Slash, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25826893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanstielsDaughter/pseuds/DeanstielsDaughter
Summary: (Final Part of the In My Hands Series) The Winchesters are finally living the life they have always dreamed of: family, hunting, and all with the loves of their lives. The rise of Adam and Eve brings forth new challenges, new hunts and monsters, and may even push the Winchester family to their limits. Will they win the battle and finally have peace or will death and destruction reign supreme?
Relationships: Adam Milligan/Original Male Character(s), Balthazar/Lucifer (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester, Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Kevin Tran/Original Male Character(s), Meg Masters/Original Male Character(s)
Series: In My Hands [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/317951
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> WOAH ALRIGHT. Long story short, this is a LONG OVERDUE continuation of a series I abandoned years ago and promised that I would one day finish. I suppose today is that day. You will have to read the previous three stories in the series to understand everything that has been established in this one and to understand the OCs. I hope everybody enjoys the last installment. It's been a long time coming!
> 
> Note: the writing style reflected in this story will most likely be far different than the others in the series. I wrote those when I was 18. I am now 24. Keep that in mind.

There were few things in life that made Dean Winchester smile.

Sunsets, his car, Sam, Castiel, but nothing had made his face ache quite like the sight of little Daniel Jude Winchester running around outside the bunker with his cousin.

Castiel had warned him that Nephilim grew fast. The two children had already surpassed the height of toddlers and were well on their way to becoming older. They appeared to be at least six or seven years old to the average unsuspecting human. They’d begun to fly, to learn more about their Heavenly heritage. Excluding the dirty bits of that past.

Castiel had neglected to mention certain events that had happened more recently.

Dean rubbed at his chest where the scar still remained. Sometimes, he swore he could still feel the pain from where the angel sword had pierced right through him. He didn’t like thinking about it. It had prevented him from seeing the actual birth of his son and not those precious moments after. It represented their last battle, the last time the Winchester family had had to fight for their lives, and Dean knew damn well it wouldn’t be the last.

For now, though, he stood and watched the children play.

“You’re not going to catch me!” Sarah Jessica Winchester cried out and took a sharp turn away from her cousin, flying a little bit away to gain distance.

“That’s my girl!” Gabriel cried out, whooping, and hollering at every little thing his little bouncy brown-haired daughter did. Dean caught Sam’s cheesy smile in his mate’s direction and the arm he wrapped around Gabriel’s middle before turning to look at his child.

Gabriel had agreed to let Sam choose Sarah’s middle name, and in Dean’s opinion it was a fitting tribute to his late love. Sam had said, much like Jess in life, Sarah was full of it. Life, that is. She’d inherited her brown hair from Sam, but her eyes and her personality was all Gabriel. The spunk in her and her ability to charge headfirst into most situations was all archangel. Her wings and flying ability had developed nicely.

She was truly a sight to behold.

Daniel Jude Winchester, on the other hand, was quiet and far more reserved. He had inherited some of the personality of Castiel, along with one of his eyes, the other belonging to Dean, (heterochromia was rare in angels and Nephilim, but somehow Daniel had developed it) and he enjoyed taking in his surroundings and taking walks with Dean at twilight. In fact, it had sort of become their nightly tradition while the weather was nice. The hunter had scoped out the woods nearby and found what he swore to be a child’s wonderland. He’d guided Daniel through his first steps and, with Castiel’s help, his first attempts at flying. The boy had done alright, fumbling through most of it, but he never gave up.

That was definitely the Dean in him.

Daniel skidded to a stop, stumbling over his feet, and staring intently over at where Sarah had flown. He grunted, wiping off his hands, and running after her again. Sarah paused and instead skipped over to a nearby rock.

“Uncle Adam,” Sarah said, quietly approaching the young man sitting there. “Do you want to play?”

Adam Milligan had come back from Hell. Upon Michael’s breakout, the two had been severed from one another, leaving the original Adam back in Hell and confused as ever. Titan, Crowley, and Meg had been the ones to find him, dazed and wandering around outside the cage for the first time in years. He’d come topside with barely any meat on his bones, a ragged gate, and an emptiness in his eyes that had still yet to disappear.

“Sure kid,” Adam managed a smile and allowed Sarah to take his hand and lead him away from where he sat.

Sarah was thrilled. Dean smiled again.

“Where’s Uncle Kevin?” he heard Daniel ask Sarah.

“He’s working again,” Sarah explained. “Papa said so.”

Daniel nodded, accepting that they were down a few playmates this time around. The usual suspects were off, completing various tasks assigned to them. Kevin was back at it again with the Prophet work, mapping out various locations that had recently seen a large shift in energy. He was working alongside the Angel Council, where Castiel currently was, and trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

Ron had been coming and going, mostly at night, and avoiding telling much about his whereabouts. Only offering the explanation of work back home. He was still expected to row his father’s boat almost every evening when the original ferryman wasn’t working or didn’t feel like doing his job. Dean could see the weariness in his bones every time he came back to the bunker. His energy only increasing upon seeing Kevin, and finally getting to spend time with the Prophet.

Titan split his time between Heaven and Earth. He protected the Winchesters, but technically speaking Balthazar was still his master. He followed the angel to Heaven when he was called upon. Lately, it had been a lump sum, but he’d managed. His time spent on Earth with his family and Meg was the time the Angelhound valued the most, Dean could tell.

Crowley had managed to fit into the Winchester’s lives fine, having left Hell to its own devices for a short time before following the same disturbances the Angel Council was investigating. It was the first time in history Dean had ever seen the two sides working together for the same cause.

Flaps of wings interrupted Dean’s daydreaming.

He turned and smiled as he saw Castiel, Balthazar, Lucifer, and Ezra all had landed. Titan was among them as well and Sarah and Daniel immediately ran over to the hound, throwing their arms around him and hugging him tightly. Titan barked and licked their cheeks, sauntering off to join them and Adam in their game of tag slash hide and seek.

“Cas,” Dean smiled and pulled his angel in for a hug and kiss.

“There has been another disturbance,” Castiel informed the hunter. “We’re still not sure what it is.”

“We’re keeping an eye on it,” Lucifer continued. “I have angels scouting every day and night. Some of the best. They’ll figure it out and you’ll be the first to know.”

Dean couldn’t believe how strange it still was to be speaking to the devil on amicable terms. Even more so, Sam’s unwavering calmness in his presence. The kid had been possessed by him, tortured people in his name, and now they were on the same side.

There were times though, that Dean saw some apprehension, and it was all quickly melted away by a touch of Gabriel’s hand somewhere on his skin. Like now when Gabriel’s fingers wrapped around Sam’s and squeezed.

“For tonight,” Balthazar said. “We rest. I do believe we have not spent much time together lately.”

Balthazar was right. The Winchesters had been busy parenting, taking hunts here and there, and trying to keep their eyes on whatever was out there causing monsters to rise and come out of the woodwork at a rapidly increasing rate. It was hard maintaining some sense of normalcy throughout the whole ordeal.

It was about time for that.

“I’ll grab some burgers from the deep freeze,” Sam mentioned and placed a kiss on Gabriel’s cheek before starting to walk off. The other angels were led inside by Gabriel, who began to chat incessantly about his daughter and her latest accomplishments. Ezra paused for a moment, looking off into the distance at Adam, chuckling at the kid’s antics, and Dean and Castiel pretended not to notice how long he stared.

“He still recalls your affinity for red meat.” Dean said to Castiel, smirking and taking the angel’s hand in his as the pair sauntered over to sit on a nearby bench to watch their child. Titan rolled around, allowing the children to wrestle with him, all while still maintaining a close eye on the area surrounding them.

The hound was a great protector. Dean was very thankful for him, despite the ghost pain in his ankle still flaring up occasionally to remind him of their meeting.

Dean heard the sound of Blue Öyster Cult blasting inside. It was nice to hear Sam listening to music again. His brother was finally happy. Dean had never thought they’d ever get this far.

“He’s just like you,” Dean commented on Daniel, rubbing his fingers over Castiel’s knuckles. “Couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Castiel remained silent, staring at his child running to and fro, smiling brightly and laughing into the darkening evening sky.

“What do you think?” Dean chuckled. “You ready for the next one?”

Castiel turned to face Dean and the hunter felt a pull at his chest and a churning deep in his gut. Castiel’s tired blue eyes were filled with worry and Dean felt his hand closing tighter around his angel’s hand.

“I’m afraid for what is to come,” Castiel explained. “If we cannot figure out what this is and stop it, I’m afraid we will be thrown into another whirlwind we cannot escape from this time.”

Dean swallowed a hard lump in his throat, just as worried that Castiel was right.


	2. Darkness Rising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay um...so. I am a dumbass when it comes to the Bible and did not know Adam and Eve were technically married (lol oops). So, we're gonna go with my own interpretation and for the sake of this story they're more like brother and sister. I think it adds a nice new element (an element we're gonna pretend was misconstrued in the Bible) to the story. 
> 
> Or we can get incestuous? I'm willing to push boundaries with monsters and Gods xD
> 
> Carry on!

The red haired woman always found herself puzzled by how far the human world had come.

The tall buildings, stretching for eons into the sky. The cars that zipped to and fro looked almost nothing like the ones she’d seen the last time she was topside. The way the young humans dressed, leaving almost nothing to the imagination anymore. Eve found herself staring for long after one young girl and her friends passed by. Her brother too, which led her to slapping his arm and ushering him forward.

It had been years since the first apocalypse had tried to manifest and she could still see it all in her mind. The ways she had tried to get to the Winchester brothers and to tear all this, all the humans loved to the ground. Her brother hadn’t been to Earth since the dawn of time. He stared at everything with the fascination of a toddler. Spinning around to look at and touch every surface as the pair went along.

There wasn’t much happening on the stretch of road they occupied. A few human souls here and there, but mostly the two of them, walking barefoot and a bit ragged through the streets looking for a place to stay while they planned their next attack.

They had been naked as the day humans were born when they’d risen. Eve had quickly conjured up a new visage of herself beforehand, knowing full well the Winchester brothers would most likely recognize her last two personas. With a snap of her fingers, she’d given them clothes and identities, and the two had started on their way. Many people along the way had stared, gawked at them. They’d even had one young teenager ask if they were “cosplaying”, whatever that was.

Now, they walked barefoot into a convenience store, trying to beat the setting sun. The bell chimed behind them and the bored clerk raised his head for a moment before slowly going back to his work.

Eve kept a side-eye on the human, watching him watching her peruse the magazines and drag her perfectly manicured red fingernails ever so slightly over each one. She saw the clerk swallow and tug at his shirt collar. His eyes briefly roamed over her bare feet, and to her brother in the background inspecting every piece of candy and accidentally knocking a few things over.

“We’re looking for directions.” Eve explained, putting on her best sultry voice.

She’d learned the first time around, men seemed to respond well to things like that.

“To where…exactly?” respond he did. The man’s eyes darted to the V neck of her dress for a mere moment. Eve smiled. She had him right where she wanted him.

“Nearest motel for the night,” Eve continued, messing with things on the counter to keep the attention on her and not on whatever her brother was most likely stealing in the background.

“Then whatever way is the fastest out of this state.”

“Got places to be?” the man scribbled out a name of a motel and then handed it to her, along with a map of the nearby states and routes to get to them.

“Oh yes,” Eve chuckled. He wasn’t wrong. “Many places to be indeed.”

***

Ron Ryder sat in the passenger seat of a totaled Honda Pilot.

The bruises his less than human body had sustained were already beginning to heal and his broken leg had mended itself fifteen minutes prior. The driver, Austin Reynolds, was still passed out. His head lolled to the side and a few bones sticking out from where they shouldn’t have been and cuts leaking blood, but they were already on the way to healing themselves. Tess Myers, she laughed in the backseat, still feeling the high from what they’d just done. Terry Benson, the youngest of the four, excitedly bounced in what was left of the seat behind Ron.

Ron heard sirens in the distance, felt his eyes returning to their normal color instead of red. Austin was starting to come to.

The two people in the car before them were dead.

“It is so nice to be back topside!” Austin yelped and threw his fist up into the air the moment it healed itself.

Ron sighed as he pushed Austin out of the car and scrambled away from the vehicle himself. Tess and Terry jumped off to the side of the road just as the Honda burst into flames and Ron heard Austin let out a whoop of laughter. Three of the foursome took off into the night, urging Ron to hurry up.

The Hellboy hesitated a moment, looking back at the car they’d hit. The two people in the front seats looked so peaceful, as though they were just simply asleep and not about to probably burn. At least they wouldn’t feel it. They were already gone.

The old Ron would have laughed at this moment, reveled in the fact that they’d taken another life and gotten away with it.

The new Ron, well he wasn’t so sure of anything anymore.

***

Dean sat up in bed, stretched and yawned, and walked to the doorway of his and Castiel’s bedroom.

The hunter turned to watch the angel sleep, smiling at the sight of Castiel curled up under the sheets and blankets with his hair slightly ruffled and his mouth slightly ajar. It had felt like centuries since he’d first laid him there. When Heaven had been overrun by a vicious tyrant and Castiel, along with the Winchesters and Gabriel, had almost paid the price for it.

It was a distant memory, but it still burned as brightly in Dean’s mind as an angel’s spirit. They had been through so much, not just lately, but in the entirety that they’d known one another. In the past the hunter would have jumped on an opportunity to save the world. It was one of the only things that left him feeling whole anymore, but now...

The thought of another battle potentially looming made Dean’s throat constrict and his stomach lurch.

The hunter made his way out of the room to start a pot of coffee. He knew Castiel and the other members of the Distinguished Angel Council would be waking soon, joining those up in Heaven who were eagerly continuing the hunt for whatever disturbance plagued the Earth this time.

Dean sighed as the coffee brewed, taking a moment to glance over at the beer bottles strewn across the table nearby. The dirty plates stacked in the sink. The normalcy of it all was enough to make him want to cry.

Dean Winchester had never craved a normal life so badly he could cry until now.

_“Great party.”_

Dean turned to see Titan approaching, in his hound form, from the doorway and the hunter smiled and nodded. A flash of light appeared seconds later and Titan, now human, strode over to the cabinets and pulled out a coffee mug.

“Won’t that stuff kill you?” Dean asked. “You know, with the dog part of you and all.”

“I would think you’d know by now,” Titan chuckled and closed the cabinet door. “That I am anything, but an ordinary dog.”

“Believe me,” Dean stopped the beeping of the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. “I know.”

He reached his hand out, offering to fill Titan’s mug, and then handed it back to the Angelhound.

“Where’s Meg?” Dean asked.

“Still sleeping,” Titan replied. “I forget that demons like to indulge as much as angels in human luxuries. She craves sleep like a crack addict.”

“A true hunter.” Dean snorted and took another sip of his coffee.

The kitchen was silent for a few moments after, neither party wanting to address the elephant in the room. Titan cocked his head when Dean finally sighed and took a seat at the messy dining room table, motioning for the hound to join him if he wished.

“We can’t go to war again,” Dean said, shaking his head. “I just got my life back. We all did. I can’t have it all taken away. Not this time.”

Titan felt the sadness coming from Dean in waves. The hound ran a hand through his messy blonde human hair that he'd recently had a human barber cut into a sort of messy crew cut and sighed.

“Whatever it is,” Titan replied. “We’ll figure it out, the way we always have. If I’ve learned anything in the time, I have known you and Sam, it’s that this family is capable of so much good it outweighs whatever bad is out there.”

Dean looked up from his coffee mug, giving Titan a hopeful stare.

“I am proud to protect and serve my family,” Titan finished. “Should this come to more war, Chuck forbid, I will gladly follow all of you into the thick of it. We will just have to have hope that it doesn’t come to that first.”

Dean watched as Titan finished his coffee in one gulp, set the mug down in the sink nearby, and in another flash of life he was back to his hound form, exiting the room and making his way to Heaven.

The kitchen was empty, save for Dean and the empty bottles. The bunker was cold. The lights were dimmed. Everyone was still sleeping soundly.

Dean could feel it in his bones, the peace would not last long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Hey guys I am back! I told you I would not give up on this story and intend to see that promise through. It has been a long time coming for me to finish this series and I am so proud of myself for circling back to give it the ending it deserves. I will also be editing the previous stories, so they flow better. I wrote those when I was 18 and am now 24. I have learned a lot in terms of my writing since then and want all of the stories to have the same type of feel without too many changes and for any consistency errors to be cleared up.  
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and that nothing was too confusing. Ron’s species is “Hellboy” not to be confused with the comic of the same name. In case anyone was wondering about that.  
> See y’all in the next chapter!


	3. Big Bad Revealed

Castiel stared down at the map of the world that lay before him.

The Big House wasn’t anything like the bunker back on Earth, it relied on more celestial technology. Right now, the map was of the entire world, but in an instant, Castiel snapped his fingers and the layout changed.

The United States seemed to be the center point of all the recent activity. Four major cities had taken a hit so far, blipping in red on the map, and Sioux Falls had been the first. Castiel sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck, carefully watching his Angel Council that surrounded him chat among themselves and offer tidbits of information here and there about what they believed it to be.

The fact of the matter was that none of them had any damn clue.

Scout angels had found traces of energy at each of the sites where activity had been reported. Ancient energy, the kind that hadn’t been felt in years, but no source. It was as though whatever it was had become invisible as a ghost in a matter of moments.

It puzzled Castiel. It also made him exceedingly nervous.

“Castiel,” Anorath walked over to the angel in charge, looking tired and grim. He had spent some time down on Earth recently, assisting the scouts in trying to locate the source of the powerful energy.

“Anything?” Castiel asked.

“Nothing new to report,” Anorath explained. “The scouts should be returning soon for the evening, but I do have a request for your…our presence down under.”

Anorath handed Castiel a small piece of paper. The leader of the Angel Council read over the words it contained and sighed upon when it vanished into flame and smoke. He stared back over at the map. The blinking red lights were still unchanged from before. He then looked around at his Council.

“You,” he pointed at Ezra, Raphael, and Balthazar. “You three are to come with me.”

***

When the angels arrived in Hell it was dank and musty. There were several caves and passages still blocked off from Abbadon’s destruction, and Crowley was in the process of trying to clean things up. As King of Hell, he was still in charge, but the demons were hard to control and hard to find after all that had happened. He had enlisted Meg to help him, promising her partial rule over the land should she ever desire it. Meg had declined, but still stood by Crowley’s side as he barked out orders to crossroads demons and tried his best to regain his strength and powers and repair their home.

The angels looked over at the sight of another white light joining them and Titan, in his hound form, stood beside Balthazar and looked up at him.

“ _Bane sent me,”_ he explained. “ _Something about a message to Heaven. Figured that might be important.”_

“You figured correctly, mutt.”

Castiel turned his head at the sound of Crowley’s voice and the King approached slowly, Meg by his side, with his hands in his pockets. The demon woman smiled upon seeing Titan, who winked at her and barked. She gave him a sideways smirk.

“Crowley,” Castiel nodded and the other angels followed suit. “Why have you called us all down here?”

“I have news,” Crowley replied. “News that couldn’t wait until dinnertime.”

It was still strange, having the King of Hell join the family for dinner every night after their work was done. Then again, two Nephilim and Satan at the table could also lead into an awfully bad joke.

“Well, spit it out then,” Balthazar stated. “We have to get back to Heaven. Our scouts are awaiting orders.”

“You can call off the scouts,” Crowley replied. “You won’t need them. It’s Adam and Eve you’re looking for.”

“How do you know this?” Ezra inquired, trying his best not to sound nervous. Most things made the smaller nerdy looking angel nervous, but his presence on the Council was definitely a small confidence booster.

“When Michael broke free,” Meg explained. “He sent out a wavelength of power. It radiated all through Hell. We demons are lucky we didn’t all perish when it happened.”

She heard Titan let out a small whine at her statement.

“That power knocked a few screws on a few cages loose, along with his own,” Meg continued. “Adam and Eve must have found a way to escape to the surface world after navigating all the wrecked passageways down here. We told you that we just found Adam Milligan wandering one day while performing maintenance. Whose to say those two didn’t slip by us?”

“Wonderful,” Raphael grunted. “Why couldn’t Father ever teach his creations to behave?”

“Enough,” Castiel ordered. “If this is true, we will have to send warriors instead of scouts. Scour every inch of the US until they are found.”

“You’d best tell those Winchester boys of yours immediately,” Crowley advised. “These two are not a force to be reckoned with. They’ve already met Eve, but together she and her brother can do a lot more than send some weird vibrations through the air. I suspect they’re the ones behind the increase in monster attacks and it’ll only get worse until we figure out why they’re here.”

“ _Or better yet_ ,” Titan commented. “ _How to stop them.”_

“Precisely,” Crowley said. “I’ll see the lot of you tonight. We’ll talk more then.”

The angels nodded once more and watched as both Crowley and Meg vanished before their eyes, moving on to another part of Hell they were trying to fix. Castiel gave the orders to Raphael and Ezra to send out the warriors and the two angels flew off in a flap of wings back to Heaven.

“I don’t suppose any of us could have predicted this,” Balthazar sighed. “There goes the peace.”

“For now,” Castiel reminded him. “Don’t discount Heaven, what’s left of it that is. We put it back together with our own bare hands. We did the same for Hell. We’ll do the same for the Earth, for our family.”

Titan barked and vanished too, making his way to inform Bane of what had transpired.

“We have to fight back,” Castiel finished. “If we don’t, I fear the Earth is surely done for.”

***

Dean and Sam stumbled into the bunker weary and in pain.

There were gashes up Dean’s arm and shoulder. Sam had a black eye and he was limping ever so slightly. The pair stared at one another and let out defeated sighs as they looked over at the living area near the main control room.

Ron and Kevin were both sitting there, along with Gabriel and the kids. Ron had Daniel in his lap and was showing him the controls for a video game, to which he was doing sort of poorly, but still enjoying himself. Sarah sat beside Kevin, attempting the same controls, and winning the fight with a giant smile on her face.

Gabriel stood and immediately flew over to Sam when he spotted him. Sarah excitedly jumped up and ran to hug her father but paused upon seeing his condition. Sam smiled down at her, assuring her he was alright. Daniel had run over to Dean as well, staring up at his dad in awe. Dean smirked and ruffled Daniel’s hair.

Gabriel reached out to try and heal Sam.

“I wanna do it Papa!” Sarah exclaimed and Gabriel, though shocked, backed up and ushered her forward.

Sarah closed her eyes and a bright light emerged from her hand. Sam winced, but quickly his wounds had healed, and his eye had returned to its normal complexion. He smiled down at his daughter and she excitedly grinned at her progress in her powers.

Daniel swallowed hard, reaching his hand out for Dean, and closed his eyes tight. His concentration was intense, but not enough as Dean’s injuries began to heal, but quickly reappeared once Daniel had broken his focus.

“M’sorry dad,” Daniel sighed. “I tried. I can try again-.”

“Don’t worry about it kid,” Dean placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to face the sound of Castiel landing nearby. “Why don’t you go back to having fun okay?”

Daniel’s eyes followed his father as he approached his Papa and kissed him. Dean glanced back one time at Daniel before beginning to speak to Castiel in a hushed whisper. Sarah urged Daniel to join on the couch once again and he morosely obliged, trying not to show his disappointment in what had just occurred.

***

Unbeknownst to all in the bunker, they were being watched.

Eve smirked, staring deep into the swirling cloud she had conjured. Daniel’s face was front and center. She could practically smell the disappointment in the air. The deep desire for approval. The longing for the chance to prove himself.

“He’s the one, you think?” Adam asked from across the room as he intently picked under his fingernails with a letter opener, he had found in one of the motel room drawers.

“Oh yes,” Eve smirked, watching the boy turn away from the sight of his parents and walk off towards the rest of his family.

“He’s most certainly the one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> A lot of information was revealed in this chapter, but hopefully this will set things in motion for the Winchesters in the fight against Adam and Eve. I hope things won’t get too confusing with both Adam Milligan and Adam. I will try to differentiate between the two of them as best I can as the story goes on.  
> I do hope everyone enjoys this chapter and the next one will definitely be out soon!


	4. A Few Fast Cars And An Old Friend

It had been twenty-four hours since the news had been dropped, and for Dean it felt as though it had been twenty years instead.

_“Adam and Eve?” Dean had said in disbelief._

_The entirety of Team Free Will 2.0 had gathered in the living area of the bunker. Sans the kids, who were in the other room nearby playing with Adam. He’d dutifully allowed them to dress him up as a pretty princess, fake makeup, and all._

_“We are afraid so,” Ezra sighed. “We were summoned to Hell by Crowley and Meg. They confirmed it.”_

_“Great,” Gabriel threw his arms up in the air and rolled his eyes. “As if we haven’t had enough trouble with Dad’s big bad monsters over the years! We gotta deal with two more.”_

_Sam placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, noticing across the way that Lucifer had stiffened at the comment. The former devil shifted uncomfortably on his feet and cast his gaze downward. Sam almost felt bad for the guy…almost._

_“This would explain the increase in monster attacks,” Castiel continued the conversation, glancing over at his son and Sarah when they, and Adam, let out a loud hoot of laughter. “I have to wonder what their end goal is though. It can’t possibly be simply to just give the two of you something to do.”_

_The angel looked over at Sam and Dean, both looking weary and worse for wear. The dark circles under Dean’s eyes had grown over the past few weeks. Sam’s hair was unkempt, sporting the eternal bedhead look. The brothers had been called to assist in several hunts already far away from home, for days on end, and then came home with barely enough energy to greet their own children. Castiel and Gabriel were both saddened at the development._

_“Well whatever it is,” Sam concluded. “We’re gonna figure it out and we’re gonna stop it.”_

_It was then Dean’s phone had started to ring and he walked off to answer it._

The phone call was how Dean found himself behind the wheel of the Impala on the way to Sioux Falls to see, one, Jody Mills about something strange. Three of her deputies had been viciously attacked over the past few days, along with four citizens. No deaths yet, but everyone was either on life support or would never function normally again.

Dean felt slightly uneasy about leaving the bunker empty, but the entire family had insisted on coming with. They had claimed Dean and Sam had done enough on their own the past few hunts. They deserved all the help they could get, especially now that Team Free Will knew what they were up against.

Sam sat shotgun, as usual, and poured over local records of hospital admittance and strange occurrences. Castiel and Gabriel sat in the backseat with the kids, asking them questions to keep them entertained.

“Okay how about this,” Gabriel asked, as excitedly as he could manage. “Free candy for the rest of your life from the Wonka factory or free pizza from the pizza place back home?”

“Pizza!” Daniel answered with a giant smile on his face. The young Nephilim had insisted on bringing his favorite stuffed toy with him, a ratty well-loved green dinosaur, and he held tightly to it as he hugged it to his body.

“Papa,” Sarah giggled. “That’s not a good question! You can make either of those things anytime we want!”

“You are just too smart for your own good Miss. Winchester,” Gabriel tickled his daughter, which launched her into a fit of laughter.

Daniel bashfully looked away, feeling embarrassed with his answer after Sarah’s logical explanation. He gripped his own hand, rubbing them together, until he felt Castiel’s hand on his arm. The trench coat donning angel gave his son a sincere smile and immediately deflected the conversation to something he saw out the window in the clouds.

Dean snuck a peek into the backseat. His heart fluttered at the sight.

They had to stop this, or there would be no free candy or pizza for anybody ever again.

***

When the group arrived in Sioux Falls, it was late afternoon. Kevin, Ron, and Adam had taken another car from the bunker’s garage and pulled in behind the Impala once it reached Jody’s driveway. The other angels had insisted they would fly, only coming when prayed to, and in the meantime, training the winged arsenals in Heaven.

Jody and Alex emerged from the front door, all smiles, and wrapped Dean and Sam in big hugs.

“Good to have you, boys.” Jody said.

“I wish it were under better circumstances, Jody.” Dean nodded solemnly.

All conversation ceased once Daniel hopped out from the back of the car, with Castiel’s assistance. Gabriel did the same with Sarah. The two young Nephilim both clutched their respective stuffed animals and stared up at Jody rather shyly.

“You did good Winchester,” Jody mentioned and knelt down, extending her hand to each of the children. “Hello, I’m a good friend of your parents’. My name’s Jody.”

“I’m Sarah Winchester,” Sarah proudly shook the Sheriff’s hand with confidence. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Such nice manners!” Jody exclaimed.

“Yeah she doesn’t get that from this one.” Sam motioned to Gabriel and Gabriel gave Sam his own bitch face. Sam stared to laugh. Jody turned to Daniel.

“Go on son,” Castiel urged. “No need to be shy.”

“I’m…” Daniel swallowed hard. “I’m Daniel.”

“Daniel,” Jody nodded with a big smile and Daniel felt a bit better. “Well c’mon in, everyone! Proper introductions and food are waiting.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Dean commented and everyone broke into laughter.

***

After a wonderful meal, introductions all around from all who Jody hadn’t met, and some general conversation the group dove into the nitty gritty.

“Seven attacks,” Jody explained. “All the same. Horrendous gashes across the body. Some blood loss, but not as though something sucked it out. Haven’t identified any registered weapons yet, but it looks as though it could have been done with a knife or potentially claws.”

“That rules out vampires,” Dean said. “The moon cycle rules out werewolves.”

“Shifters?” Sam suggested. “That would explain the ability to hide well.”

“Could be,” Dean nodded. “We’ll have to get out there and find out.”

The brothers heard radio chatter and Jody responding from the other room after getting up to listen. She immediately began to shrug on her coat and adjusted her badge.

“Two more attacks,” Jody hurriedly explained as she pulled on her boots. “One on the South side of town, the other the North.”

“We can split up,” Adam suggested. “Some of us take the North, the others take the South.”

The youngest Winchester was suddenly aware of how many eyes were on him.

“You sure you’re up for that?” Dean asked. “I mean you did just-.”

“I’m not invalid, Dean,” Adam replied, with more bite than he’d intended so he toned it down a little. “I want to help. I think I can handle pretending to be a Fed for a few hours.”

“Alright then,” Dean nodded. “Gabriel, conjure up a suit for the man, please. Make it three actually.”

“With pleasure,” Gabriel snapped his fingers and suddenly Adam, Kevin, and Ron all were dressed in stuffy suits. Ron tugged at the lapel of his and grimaced.

“Not my usual getup,” Ron commented. “But I suppose I have to play the part.”

“I would lose the eyeliner,” Sam replied. “And the earrings. Just make yourself look less…emo punk rock than usual.”

“Awe, but that’s no fun!” Ron jokingly replied, but in an instant, after conjuring up his own powers, the makeup, and traces of his favorite look vanished and he looked as though he was on his way to a prep school.

“Surprised I’ve never seen your kind before now.” Jody commented.

“We tend to stay below ground.” Ron replied, but with an air of nervousness in his voice.

_“At least, we did before now.”_

Jody tossed the Winchesters their keys and everyone went outside to start up their respective vehicles. Jody, Sam, and Dean took off to the South, while Kevin, Ron, and Adam drove off toward the North.

A cold feeling settled in Dean’s stomach as he watched Gabriel, Castiel, Alex, and their kids in the rear view mirror seeing them off.

***

The victim was face up, eyes open wide at the sky, and the entirety of his organs were spilled onto the pavement of the alleyway. Luckily, he was away from public view or Adam feared it would certainly give children nightmares for the rest of their lives. Him too if he didn’t manage to lose his lunch first.

He wasn’t the only one feeling that way. One of the local cops had already walked off behind a dumpster and retching was heard. Clearly, he hadn’t seen many gruesome things yet in his time in Sioux Falls.

“No security cameras,” Ron asked another cop, clearly the lead on the investigation. “Nobody that could have seen this?”

“Nobody has come forward,” the cop explained, giving Ron a scrutinizing look. Clearly, he didn’t believe that an eternal nineteen-year-old could be part of the FBI. Ron didn’t blame him for being suspicious, but he still continued to play the part as best he could.

“We’re hoping somebody will. Whoever or whatever did this…it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen in these parts. I mean we get bears and other shit, mauling people, but this is just…”

“Torture,” Kevin finished, coming up beside his boyfriend and giving him a small smile. “Almost as though it was intentional.”

“Exactly,” the cop nodded. “If you boys have any questions feel free to call me. Right now, I’ve got a bunch of lookie loos to ward off. Scuse me.”

The cop walked off, holding his hands up to shield the crowd that had now formed from viewing the carnage. Adam continued to discreetly scan the body for EMF but came up with nothing. He shook his head at the others, and they concluded there was nothing else to be done at the scene. They’d already texted Sam and Dean, requesting they all meet up for lunch after at a local diner to discuss their findings. Hopefully the other two Winchester brothers had discovered more than their trio.

Ron was about to turn and leave, but something caught his eye. Beyond the right arm of the cop arguing with the crowd to leave, was a familiar face that made Ron’s blood run cold.

Austin.

He smirked and winked at Ron and the Hellboy blinked a few times and shook his head before looking back over at where Austin had been standing. In his place, there was a normal curious citizen, talking with the person next to him.

Something like dread pooled in Ron’s stomach and he jumped once he felt Kevin’s hand on his shoulder.

“We’re leaving,” Kevin said, and Ron nodded.

Kevin squeezed Ron’s shoulder, clearly wondering why his boyfriend was so jumpy. It wasn’t as though Ron hadn’t seen the dead before.

In this case, it wasn’t the dead Ron was worried about, but potentially the eternally undead instead.

***

Sam and Dean waited by the Impala, waiting for Jody to finish up her initial report with the other Officers in her precinct. She shook her head at the mess at their feet, glancing briefly over at the brothers before going back to chatting with another cop.

“This was intentional,” Sam commented. “Not an animal. Besides, we found the usual goop near the storm drain.”

“Shifter.” Dean concluded with a nod. “Has to be more than one too, with the timing of the attacks. I say we wait ‘til tonight. Too many prying eyes.”

Dean nodded, knowing full well his brother was right. Smaller towns weren’t used to strange happenings. Not that Sioux Falls was small, but it’s citizens had the vibe. They were scared and shocked by what had been happening, especially so openly and publicly. Bodies didn’t usually get found in the middle of sidewalks for all to see.

“My question is why Adam and Eve, if this is truly them,” Sam said. “Would use ordinary monsters to just cause a little havoc. I would think they’d have a bigger goal in mind.”

Dean was worried about the same thing. It seemed strange that all powerful beings were just causing hunts to increase. Good for the hunting business. Bad for Dean’s nerves, especially with his thoughts being only the kids and angels the two brothers had left back at Jody’s house.

There had to be something more to this.

“Either way,” Dean concluded as the brothers got into the Impala and Dean started up the engine. “We’re here to do what we always do. Kill the bad guys, but first...burgers.”

The two brothers took off down the street, not noticing the pair of prying eyes on them as they went into town to meet the others for lunch.

Adam, the other half of the ancient duo, stood on the sidewalk with a bag of groceries in his arms. He was disguised as an older man, with salt and pepper hair, and appearing just feeble enough to not be noticed or helped, but to appear non-threatening.

“They’re here.” He muttered, knowing full well Eve could hear him, even back at their motel room. “Shall we begin the process?”

“ _When we get the chance,”_ he heard Eve say through his mind. “ _We strike.”_

Adam nodded and continued on his way back to the motel room on the outskirts of the center of town.

***

After a greasy diner lunch, Team Free Will went back to Jody’s house, and were greeted by hugs and excited chatter from the kids about their activities of the day. Alex had agreed to take them to the park at some point, with the Winchester’s permission. Adam agreed to come along, wanting a break from what he’d witnessed earlier, and the quartet made their way out the door after wrestling shoes onto the kids, who bounced up and down as they made their way to Adam’s borrowed car.

Dean sighed, not wanting any of them to be separated with what was going on, but Alex was a capable fighter. Adam was too. They’d be okay. He had to convince himself of that and let the kids have some normalcy.

“Shifters,” Dean explained. “Here’s how to kill ‘em.”

The remaining group, with the exception of Gabriel and Castiel, watched eagerly as Dean and Sam visually explained how to take care of a shifter. Kevin had already started some work on pinpointing where the shifters were potentially coming from. It struck everyone as slightly strange that such solitary creatures would be working together, but stranger things had been happening lately for them to question it too much.

Once the lesson had been thoroughly conveyed, everyone readied their weapons and prepared for departure at nightfall. Dean phoned in takeout, knowing Jody would probably be working late, and he in no way expected her to feed an army once she got home.

“I have to go row the boat,” Ron sighed and stood from his seat. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam waved him off. “We can handle this. Go do your job.”

Ron nodded, grateful, but feeling slightly guilty at the lie. He hesitated a moment, feeling out the angels in the room for any sign they could sense what he was truly up to. Ron could usually hide his emotions and thoughts well, but this whole thing had thrown him into a whirlwind.

“See you later tonight?” Kevin asked, with a puppy dog like look in his eyes.

“Of course,” Ron nodded, feeling extra guilty at the sight of his loving boyfriend staring into his eyes. He pulled the Prophet in for a hug and kissed him gently, placing his forehead on Kevin’s and closing his eyes.

“I love you.” Ron said, with all sincerity. The first truthful thing he’d said that entire evening.

“I love you too.” Kevin replied with a big smile and Ron turned to leave before he broke down.

The Hellboy vanished into thin air, leaving Kevin and the others to prepare for the hunt.

***

Adam Milligan and Alex sat on a bench near the playground down the block from Jody’s house and watched the kids play. Daniel and Sarah chased after two other children whose parents watched from another bench nearby. They smiled and waved at the two and both Adam and Alex lifted a hand and gave quick smiles back.

“So,” Alex tried her best to make conversation with the quiet man beside her. “You were in Hell.”

Adam didn’t reply, simply sighing and nodding instead.

“Sorry,” Alex shook her head. “I just dove right in there didn’t I? It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“No,” Adam replied. “It’s fine. It was just…a lot to deal with. I was there for centuries.”

“I thought you looked older than you seem,” Alex nodded. “I may not know exactly what that specific situation feels like, but I know what it’s like to come from a bad situation in general into a strange new one and not know exactly where you fit in.”

“I guess we’re not so different then, huh?” Adam gave her a sincere smile and Alex returned it.

“I gotta do some homework soon,” Alex stood from the bench. “Will you be okay here alone with them?”

“I think I can manage,” Adam nodded. “It’s getting dark anyway. I’ll bring them home soon.”

“Sounds good,” Alex replied. “I’ll tell the others you’re on your way.”

The pair parted ways. Adam watched Alex walk away until he could see her no more, and silently prayed she would get home safely. It had been nice to get away from the others, where he felt as though he was constantly under somebody’s watchful eye, and to be talked to like an actual human being.

It wasn’t that Adam was entirely resentful. The Winchesters had been nothing, but kind to him upon his return. They’d tried their hardest to make up for their mistake when the world had threatened to end the first time. He had a place to sleep, three square meals a day, and a family again.

Still, thoughts of Hell plagued him every waking day and every time he closed his eyes on his pillow at night. It was a hard life to live, and he had felt entirely alone in it until his talk with Alex.

Meanwhile, across the way by the swings, Daniel stood and caught his breath. The young Nephilim watched as his cousin exuberantly led the other children in a race to the top of the slide. She had invited him to play with her new friends, but Daniel felt as though he wasn’t fast enough for them. He’d used being out of breath as an excuse to be off to the side.

He desperately wished he were there though, racing to the top of the play set with the others.

“Not fair is it?” a voice came from his left and Daniel turned to a see another little boy his age approaching.

Daniel shook his head, at a loss for words. For some reason, he hadn’t remembered this boy being there before, and Daniel had this unexplained feeling of warmth and friendliness overtaking him.

He took it as good sign. It wasn’t something that happened often.

“It’s okay,” Daniel lied. “She’s having fun. I am too.”

“You don’t look like you’re having much fun,” the boy concluded and shook his head. He leaned up against the other pole to the swing set. “Does this happen all the time?”

“Pretty much,” Daniel sighed. “Sarah kind of takes over, but like I said, it’s okay.”

“You’re too nice,” the other little boy laughed. “Either way, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and have fun, together right?”

Daniel stared into the little boy’s eyes. There was something overly inviting about them and about the way little boy looked into his. Daniel felt a flood of the same warm emotion from before and he found himself nodding and finally breaking into a small smile.

“Yeah we can,” Daniel nodded, more excited than before. “I’m gonna be here ‘til tomorrow. Maybe we can play here tomorrow?”

“Maybe yeah,” the little boy nodded too and turned his head at the sight of the man on the bench across the way standing up and calling Daniel and his cousin’s names. Sarah leapt from the jungle gym and waved goodbye to her new friends as she ran over to her uncle. Daniel also bid goodbye to his friend and jogged over to the bench.

The little boy smirked, his eyes flashing a whitish color before he called out to his sister in his mind.

_“I got him.”_

Eve’s playful laughter was the only response he got.

The little boy rendered himself invisible just as Ezra flew in from the sky and landed beside Adam Milligan. The youngest Winchester jumped, holding both Sarah’s hand and his heart.

“I will never get used to that.” He commented.

“My apologies for scaring you,” Ezra said, bashfully. Adam caught the look, feeling something strange stirring in his chest the longer he stared at the nerdy angel and observed the way the angel always stared back at him, as though Adam wasn't something to be feared. It was pure curiosity.

“Dean and Sam are preparing to leave for the hunt,” Ezra coughed and went back into his explanation. “They wanted to know when you were bringing the kids home.”

“Now,” Adam said. “C’mon guys.”

The group made their way to the exit of the park and Ezra paused for a moment, looking around.

“What is it?” Adam asked.

Ezra felt something. Something he couldn’t explain, but the feeling faded as quickly as it had come on. The angel’s powers had been on the fritz for years and the whole ordeal with Heaven hadn’t helped the matter. He chalked it up to that and shook his head.

“Nothing,” Ezra concluded. “Let’s go home.”

They left the park without another word, completely oblivious to the little boy that only Daniel could see, waving at him.

Daniel waved back one last time before they all turned the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Wow a super long chapter! I was clearly on a roll. There was so much I wanted to establish before going any further and I hope I did a good job of that. Hopefully, none of the relationships seem forced. I am planning on fleshing out a few of them a bit more as this story goes along (namely Adam and Ezra), and I do plan to delve deeper into the big bads and their strange obsession with Daniel as well. I do hope everybody enjoyed this chapter and there will be more to come soon!  
> See you then!


	5. An Impressively Calm Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went the incestuous route with Adam and Eve because let's face it: one, the Bible does some weird shit, and two, I forgot they were married when I started writing this. So, why not both?! xD

Eve stared, with a delicious smile, into the vision of smoke she’d conjured.

There were two peaceful, sleeping faces. One belonged to the young Nephilim girl. Sam Winchester and the archangel Gabriel’s daughter. A shining beacon of light and positivity to all who met her. She was powerful. She was confident. She was sure of herself.

Daniel, on the other hand…

The Nephilim boy was flawed in all the right ways. His mind tricked him into believing he was something lesser than his cousin. Lesser than most everyone in his family, but his heart still allowed him to give them all the unconditional love in the world.

It was his Achilles heel. His family.

He was perfect for what Adam and Eve needed to accomplish.

He was young and innocent. They needed to keep him that way. Slowly, ease their way into his mind and perform their influence.

For now, though, Eve let him sleep and dissipated the vision.

“How do we wish to go about this?” Adam asked from the other side of the room.

He was still dressed in the outfit he’d conjured earlier when he’d disguised himself as an old man, but now he was back to his current visage’s younger age. He fiddled with a bag of Cheetos, reading the ingredients as though he were reading God’s words straight from His holy text.

“You’re the dream walking expert,” Eve commented. “You tell me.”

“You know I haven’t done that since we were banished from the Garden, right?” Adam gave her a look.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t practice,” Eve replied, getting up from her seat at the dining table in the motel room and striding over to the bed, where she plopped down and grabbed the TV remote from the side table.

“Or show me how to do it myself.”

“I just got the kid to trust me,” Adam remarked. “I don’t want to rush things.”

“We have a timeframe,” Eve replied, with a bit of snark. “Lest you forget, dear brother. Our newly acquired bosses are counting on us to fulfill their wishes sooner rather than later.”

“They should learn some patience then,” Adam said. “Good things take time.”

“You are so insufferable.” Eve rolled her eyes, but a tiny smile played across her lips.

“You know it.” Adam smirked and got up from his seat, leaning down to kiss her forehead before getting into the other side of the bed.

“The Bible pegs you as a doting idiot.” Eve remarked, leaning her head onto Adam’s shoulder, and continuing to watch the local news.

“The Bible got a lot of things wrong.” Adam replied and settled further into the bed, taking Eve’s hand in his and watching the police trying to solve the latest murders.

***

Gabriel never ceased to be fascinated by humans, even after all the millennia he’d been alive.

Sam Winchester looked like Heaven when he slept. Gabriel’s eyes traced the curvature of his human’s face. Gabriel had seen nearly everything created since the dawn of time. He had witnessed mountains rise and seas fill. He had seen animals walk the Earth and clouds take to the sky with the sun.

None of those things were as beautiful. None of those things compared.

Sam cracked his eyes open and Gabriel smiled.

“Cas gets in trouble for that, you know.” Sam joked.

“Cassie was never as subtle as me.” Gabriel chuckled and got up from the bed, just as Sam sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

“Turns out all the humans needed was a nap,” Gabriel said and handed Sam a shirt. “The others are in the living room, discussing the plan for tonight. I just figured you’d want to know.”

Sam smiled and cleared his throat, getting up to look at himself in the mirror. The Sam that stared back was running ragged, tired, and older. Sam pulled at his cheek, exposing more of his eye, and looking at how bloodshot it was. He could have sworn he’d seen a gray hair or two a few days ago.

Sam slowly left the room, walking out into the living room and dining area.

A crayon was in Sarah’s fist and she was currently showing Daniel her drawing with enthusiasm and glee. Dean’s young son smiled back at her, showing just as much pride in her work as she did.

Sam instantly felt better.

***

“I say we split up, scour the streets until one of us finds something,” Dean said. Castiel sat next to him, placing an arm around Dean’s shoulder as the hunter spoke. He noticed his lover, staring over at their son with a protective gaze.

“Jody’s got extra radios,” Dean continued. “The angels have prayer. I’ve got all the weapons in the trunk. Let’s kill these bitches.”

Dean covered his mouth upon remembering there were children in the room and Sam chuckled. He patted his brother on the shoulder and they walked to the Impala together, leaving the others in the living room to prepare for their areas of town that Jody was assigning.

“Those assholes are really pushing their luck,” Dean remarked as he grabbed his favorite gun, loaded with silver bullets, and handed Sam a long machete and a gun as well.

“They messed with the wrong family.”

“This isn’t all that different from those ghoul colonies we fought with dad down in Houston,” Sam remarked. “We’ll deal with it like we dealt with that.”

“That was different,” Dean sighed, looking back at Jody’s living room window, where the group had begun to disperse. “This time it just feels…wrong. Those two bastards are messing with us and I wanna know why.”

“Well I know one thing,” Sam said. “It stops here. My daughter’s gonna sleep in her own bed tomorrow night and every night after this, if I have anything to do with it.”

Dean nodded in agreement and upon sending a quick prayer to Castiel and Sam to Gabriel, the pair got into the Impala, Dean started up the engine, and the duo peeled off into the night.

***

Ron jumped over the chain link fence with ease. He looked around for cameras the moment he landed and, upon finding none, he kept walking towards the empty warehouse.

The old train tracks nearby had long since been abandoned. On the left side of the fence was an old tire dump. On the right side was a seemingly endless field of wilted brown grass.

It was the perfect hideout for Hellchildren.

Ron and his friends, well they were technically his cousins, had always scoped out similar places in every town they’d ever raised hell in. It had to be discreet enough to where they could drag a body if needed. However, nine times out of ten, they just drained the corpse and ran.

Ron shuddered at the thought of Kevin ever finding out that he still had the deep desire to do these things.

That he had done such things more recently.

Ron clenched his fists and stopped at the door. He closed his eyes, picturing his next words, and kicked open the door. He reached for his knife, a skull with red eyes on the handle, and twirled it in his hand as he looked around.

“Alright Austin,” Ron called out. “I know you’re here!”

Ron felt an instant chill in the air, and he shivered for a moment before turning to face his older cousin. Austin stood with a smirk on his face and chuckled ever so giddily. He stood on the next level of the building, near the catwalk, and jumped over its railing effortlessly.

“Duh,” Austin said. “Guys you can come out too, it’s just Ron!”

Tess and Terry both emerged from the shadows, knives in hand, and they immediately sheathed them upon seeing their family member instead of a police officer before them.

“You killed all those people,” Ron concluded. “The shifters were just a distraction.”

“You always were one of the smarter ones,” Austin replied. “Yes, we did have some of the shifters do the dirty work to cover our tracks, but in the end, it was just so much fun hearing those humans beg and plead for their lives. Just like the old days, eh kid?”

Ron glared at Austin, on any other day in time he probably would have agreed with him, but Kevin’s innocent face kept going through his head. The Prophet was halfway across town by now, slaughtering some innocent shifter who had most likely killed no one.

Austin’s eyes shifted to a maroon color as he smirked, bigger this time.

“Why?” Ron asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Austin replied.

“I recall a time when we used to tell each other everything.” Ron remarked.

“That was before you left us for a man of God,” Tess scoffed. “You really think we can trust you now?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Ron sneered.

“Just because you went on one escapade with us,” Austin circled Ron as he spoke, arms behind his back. “Mind you, we had to force you, or the bloodlust would have only grown stronger by the minute. It doesn’t mean we can trust you anymore.”

“Yeah,” Terry spoke up, wanting to be included. He was always silenced more than revered.

“It’s not like we can trust you with Dad’s plan. You’re likely to run off and tell that Prophet and those hunters about it all.”

Austin growled at Terry, lunging at him with his knife, and Terry jumped back behind Tess. She reluctantly shielded her twin brother and gave Austin a warning look. The eldest Hellchild huffed and eventually turned his attention back to Ron.

“You don’t mean?” Ron’s eyes widened in recognition of what Terry had admitted.

“It’s been centuries since the Big Three walked this Earth,” Austin explained, knife still out and now pointed at Ron, as he circled him once more. “With the rise of Adam and Eve, it gives us the perfect opportunity to give the door a little nudge for them too.”

Ron bit his lip, his anger and disbelief rising the longer he stood in front of his family. It felt wrong, even calling them that, after all he’d experienced with the Winchesters and the rest of Team Free Will.

Still, there was something deep inside of him that knew he could never have it all. He knew this was truly where his loyalty was supposed to lie.

Ron clenched his fists again.

“I’ve already established trust with the Prophet and the others,” Ron explained. “I’ll have to keep up the façade until I can manage to get away for a final time.”

“See to it that you do,” Austin replied, staring Ron down. “You have until the Spring Solstice to sever your ties with the humans and the God squad and remind yourself who your true family is. Adam and Eve know their orders. So, do we. Now you know yours.”

The others started to leave, looking back at Ron with worried gazes as they went. The moon’s bright beams shone through the broken warehouse windows and glinted off of Austin’s knife as he turned to face Ron one last time.

“Don’t fuck it up.”

The Hellchildren took off into the night, leaving Ron to contemplate their ultimatum as he made his way back towards Jody’s house as slowly as he possibly could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Not sure if anybody is still invested in this series or not, but I will still continue it until it is finished. That’s how passionate I am about it.  
> See y’all in the next chapter, for those who are reading!


	6. Surprises and Shifters

Meg felt her insides crawling up her throat for the third time that morning. She groaned, clutching her stomach, and holding onto the edge of the toilet bowl as she heaved. She was shocked she even had anything left, much less than her vessel was still capable of producing vomit after years of the human host being dead.

It had been about five days since the sickness had begun. So far, she’d managed to keep it to herself, hiding in bathrooms and back alleyways, letting everything that entered come back up her throat when nausea took over. It came in waves, predominantly in the morning, but sometimes throughout an entire day. Meg had been sleeping a lot more, taking less time to observe the inner workings of Hell with Crowley, and trying her best to keep up with her boyfriend and try not to worry him too much more than usual.

Titan was currently laying in her bed, still naked, and awaiting her return. The pair had spent most of the previous evening getting it on, trying to satiate what was left of the hound’s heat cycle. God was a cruel master, and apparently, He had chosen the past week to try and make more of the hybrid angelic species.

Unbeknownst to Titan, Meg had the slightest suspicion the two of them had somehow succeeded in that feat.

It was the only thing that made sense, but she couldn’t know for sure. Not until somebody checked her out. In fact, she doubted it was possible that her vessel was capable of carrying offspring.

Then again, weirder things had happened.

She wiped her mouth and flushed the toilet, looking at her pale self in the dusty half broken mirror before slowly making her way back out to the bedroom. She smiled upon entering, seeing her boyfriend smirking back at her from under the covers.

The hound had spent the past week with her, worshiping her body, and meshing it with his own. He’d explained the whole process to her, and Meg had willingly helped him out, knowing it would be over in a week’s time. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy their more intimate time together, she was simply worn out.

That, and now there was another matter to attend to, if it were even true.

She took in the sight of Titan in his human form, his slightly tanned torso and arms sticking out from under the blanket. He’d gotten his hair cut from a human barber not long ago, resulting in a dirty blonde medium crew cut of sorts. He’d also chosen to adorn his human arms with tattoos over the years spent on Earth, watching over the Winchesters. A spiderweb wound around his elbow. A woman, he claimed was supposed to be Meg and it sure did look like her, on his right forearm. His blue eyes still shone bright as the sky during daytime.

“I missed you.” He smiled and Meg did too. “You were gone for such a long time.”

“I had to pee.” Meg explained, trying to deflect from what she’d actually been doing for the past ten minutes.

“Since when do demons pee?” Titan asked, cocking his head ever so slightly like he would in his hound form.

“No need to be coy hound dog,” Meg chuckled. “I’ve seen you mark your territory more than once in the time I’ve known you.”

“Touché,” Titan replied and motioned for Meg to join him back in bed.

She waited for the next round of nausea to pass, using grabbing his discarded t-shirt as an excuse, and then climbed back into bed. Titan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, and she could feel love radiating from him the moment he did so.

“Not that I’m complaining about our extended stay together,” Meg said, leaning into his chest as he held her. “But shouldn’t you be getting back to your charge soon?”

“The Winchesters?” Titan asked. “Figured I wouldn’t be much use to them in such a state I was in for the past week, but I suppose you’re right.”

As much as Meg genuinely wanted him to stay, and she always did, she knew eventually he’d have to go. That, and it would give her time to find out the truth about what was happening to her before she told him.

If there was even anything to tell, perhaps she was being paranoid.

“ _All Angelhounds capable, please report to Leader Bane immediately.”_

Titan sighed heavily and considered letting out a growl upon hearing Tojo on angel radio in his head, kissed Meg on the forehead, and got out of her bed, naked as the day God made him.

“Well,” he faced her and shifted into his hound form. His yellow hound eyes going white with power once the transformation was complete.

“ _That was nice while it lasted.”_

“Go,” Meg encouraged him. “Duty calls, oh Heavenly one.”

“ _You’ll pray if you need me?”_ Titan asked.

“You know it.” Meg replied.

“ _Hope I didn’t wear you out too much,”_ Titan remarked. “ _I love you.”_

“I love you too,” Meg said, feeling the slightest twinge of guilt that she hadn’t let him in on what was happening to her. “I’ll see you again soon.”

Titan barked and vanished as quickly as he’d appeared seven days earlier, leaving Meg in the quiet solitude of her underground home. A few moments and a few more waves of nausea passed before Meg managed to dig her cell phone out from the side table and dialed a familiar number.

 _“Calling out again?”_ Crowley’s voice came through the speaker, annoyed. “ _This is the fourth time this week.”_

“Save it Crowley,” Meg pleaded with him. “I need your help with something, please.”

***

When Titan landed in the Sixth Realm of Heaven, he took a deep breath, and tried to collect himself. Regular meetings of the Angelhound Council had occurred ever since he’d pleaded his case to his superior Bane several months prior, but it still felt as though he was walking on eggshells half the time.

It never stopped him from gloating when necessary though.

Tojo, Chaya, Leo, and Ace stood before him. All in hound form, all staring his way as he approached. Ever since his trial, Titan had felt a bit ostracized by most of the hounds left in Heaven, but he’d still managed to maintain his usual swagger and pride even with adversity staring him in the face.

“ _You reek of fresh Hell.”_ Tojo remarked.

“ _Does that surprise you?”_ Titan returned the other hound’s hard stare and addressed the others. “ _I take it everyone had a productive heat cycle?”_

 _“Titan!”_ Chaya whined. “ _That’s quite personal, don’t you think?”_

 _“Just making conversation,”_ Titan replied and if he’d been human, he’d have smirked.

 _“We were discussing the waves of energy we’ve felt lately,”_ Leo continued. “ _There was another unusual one released about five days ago. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you, mutt?”_

 _“Well, I have been doing a substantial amount of releasing for the past week,”_ Titan teased the other hound, whom he despised, and Leo growled in response.

Tojo snarled at the thought of one of their own copulating with a demon, even though it was well known who Titan had taken as his mate for life. Chaya folded her ears and tried her best not to get in the middle of the whole thing. A low growl escaped Titan’s throat and his hackles immediately begun to rise.

_“That is quite enough, boys!”_

The sound of Bane’s voice broke up a would be fight and the hounds all immediately dropped their front ends and bowed as their Leader approached. The shaggy black Newfoundland looked older by the day lately.

“ _I suppose you know by now why I have called you here,”_ Bane explained. “ _But if you don’t, the rise of Adam and Eve is upon us and I fear it isn’t the only chaos we will be seeing. There have been rumors, whispers from the other side, that aren’t quite clear, but could have some merit to them once they’re deciphered.”_

 _“We’ve handled doomsday before,”_ Titan replied. “ _Right gentlemen? And lady?”_

 _“This feels…different,”_ Bane sighed and the hounds immediately all felt an overwhelming sense of concern. It was rare that their Leader showed much fear.

It was written all over his muzzle this time.

 _“It feels ancient,”_ Bane continued. “ _This may not be so easy this time. I will need all of you back at one hundred and ten percent. Can you give me that?”_

 _“All you need and more,”_ Tojo bowed his head.

“ _Good,”_ Bane nodded. “ _Your current orders are to assist the angels and those chosen in this fight as needed. I believe you are familiar with the Winchesters, are you not?”_

Titan stood up straighter. His famous family was something he was proud of, a feeling he’d let no one diminish from his being.

 _“They are currently tracking the ancient beings,”_ Bane explained. “ _Without much luck, I may add. I need at least a few of you to join them in this search. Be their nose where they fall short. The rest of you will assist the Angel Council in their search.”_

Bane turned to face Titan and the hound felt humbled all of a sudden in his Leader’s presence.

 _“Titan knows them well,”_ Titan could have sworn Bane smiled. “ _You will turn to him for orders and guidance upon reaching Earth. In the meantime, Titan, you’re in charge of this lot. See to it they fulfill their duties.”_

Bane motioned to Leo, Tojo, Ace, and Chaya, earning surprised looks, growling, and baying from Leo and Tojo. Ace turned to face Chaya and the female hound nodded at him and then Titan, staring into her old friend’s gaze with hope and a hint of sadness.

Come to think of it, she’d looked at him that way ever since the trial.

Titan swallowed hard and turned to face his crew. It would be difficult working with several hounds who hated his guts, and the feeling was mutual, but he’d faced incredible odds before.

If there was one thing watching over Dean Winchester had taught him, it was to never give up.

 _“What are we waiting for?”_ Titan barked. “ _Let’s find and kill these assholes!”_

The hounds vanished, one by one, down to Earth and waited for Titan down below. Chaya was the last to leave, still sporting that same solemn look from before as she bowed her head at Titan and disappeared into thin air.

“ _You can do this.”_ Bane nodded and started to walk away.

Titan wanted to believe him, but ever fiber of his being screamed otherwise, even as he left for Earth, closing his eyes, and picturing his destination.

***

Castiel and Gabriel were still back to back even though the situation didn’t warrant it any longer.

All, but one, of the shifters were dead. The angels had managed to lure the entire colony of monsters to their location and had fought together for hours to try and kill them all. Although Gabriel had decided to keep one for torture.

Castiel panted, covered in shifter goop and blood, and he sheathed his angel blade. He looked over at his brother, who currently had a shifter by the collar of his shirt and was staring him down with eyes filled with grace and power.

Gabriel’s eyes shone white and he held his blade up the shifter.

“Tell us,” Gabriel’s voice was unnaturally low and powerful. It had been a long time since Castiel had seen his brother in battle and he supposed this is what it looked like.

“Who sent you here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the shifter smirked, red dripping from its mouth as it bared its bloodstained teeth.

“Jokes on you dumbass,” Gabriel suddenly threw the shifter into a nearby tree and the monster cried out. Castiel looked over at his brother and the pair descended upon the shifter, eyes lit up.

“We already know who.”

“We want to know why, and we demand to know where they are.” Castiel finished.

The Seraph lifted his blade to the shifter’s throat, threatening to cut it. He stared into the creature’s eyes and listened as it begun to cackle.

“Eat me.” the shifter grabbed Castiel’s blade before the angel could react and stabbed itself. It fell in a blast of light immediately and died.

“Damn it…” Castiel cursed and stomped away from the body. He rubbed at his temples and glared up at the sky.

“We’ll find them,” Gabriel placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Their cloaking spell isn’t as strong as it was when they first came back to Earth. I should be able to get through if I focus hard enough.”

The familiar sound of the Impala’s engine filled the air and the two Winchester brothers stepped from the car and ran over to the angels.

“The shifters are dead,” Castiel explained. “But it brings us no closer to finding Adam and Eve. We know they were here, there was a power disturbance.”

The trio looked over at Gabriel upon hearing him clear his throat and reopen his eyes. The archangel pointed behind them.

“Sunbeam Motel,” he mentioned. “Two blocks away. I’m getting something.”

The four of them took off faster than lightning.

***

Dean sighed as he packed the trunk of the Impala and looked over at the rest of his family giving fond handshakes and hugs to Jody on the steps of her house. The Sheriff kneeled down and smiled at the kids, giving each of them a pat on the shoulder and Sarah nodded at her before taking off towards her papa. Gabriel placed an arm on her back and looked over at Dean with a solemn glance.

Sam and Castiel were giving the others GPS instructions to the nearest motel stop on the way home. Normally, the Winchester brothers would have insisted on driving through the night, but not anymore with the kids. They needed proper rest to avoid a car crash.

Dean thought back to earlier that day. When they’d busted down the motel room door, Adam and Eve were nowhere to be found, but they had been there previously. Castiel and Gabriel had sensed their energy the moment they’d entered the room, but it had gone quiet.

It was as though they’d never existed to begin with.

Cloaking themselves meant a longer hunt for the duo. Something Dean normally would not have minded. He had loved the thrill of the chase ever since he’d first started to hunt monsters, but things were different now.

Daniel looked over at his father and gave a sheepish smile as he climbed into the backseat of the car. Sarah skipped over to her side and joined him moments later.

“We’ll find them,” Sam said, determined as ever. “For now, let’s just get the kids home.”

Dean nodded, knowing full well Sam was right. He climbed into the driver’s seat, after watching Ron, Adam, and Kevin climb into the backseat of their car, looking ragged and tired from their own shifter killing exploits and God knows what else the night before.

Dean and Sam waved to Jody and she came up to the window of the car.

“You boys sure you got this?” she asked, with genuine concern.

“If we need you,” Dean replied. “We’ll call you. Take care of yourself and the girls Jody.”

Jody nodded, not wanting to press any further and she stepped away from the car, letting Dean and the others back out of the driveway and take off down the street towards the outskirts of town.

Nobody, but Daniel noticed and waved at the man and woman standing near the corner store with giant, scheming smiles on their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Another long ass chapter. I am just on a roll. More things will come to light soon and I am excited for all that to happen!  
> See y’all in the next chapter!


	7. A Coda To The Bigger Picture

It took all Meg’s strength to not panic. It had been only five minutes since Crowley had delivered the news she had suspected, but in what had felt like an hour even though it wasn’t, she had yet to find a word to say to him.

“I’m shocked that mutt of yours couldn’t tell.” Crowley commented, getting up from where he sat, and his arm remained outstretched over Meg’s stomach.

The female demon sighed, rolling her shirt back down over her slightly bloated stomach and looked over at Crowley.

“I’ll admit he can be a bit daft sometimes.” Meg replied.

“Daft is a word for it,” Crowley snorted, and Meg gave him a look. “I’m sorry my dear, I’ll keep my comments regarding the angels to myself.”

“They’re your family too now.” Meg sat up slowly, the room spinning ever so slightly.

Meg’s words resonated deep inside Crowley. It was true. It seemed like just yesterday he had asked the Winchesters for help in locating and killing Abaddon. It had taken Crowley and Meg months to rebuild their home, trying to reestablish order among their people after Abbadon’s corruption had touched them.

Yet, he felt somehow more compelled, more drawn to those topside who’d decided to call him a part of their messed-up family.

“Well it seems we’re adding three more members.” Crowley gave Meg a small smile and Meg cocked her before realizing, looking down, and touching her stomach.

“Best prepare for triplets, my dear,” Crowley nodded. “You might want to tell that boyfriend of yours he’s upgrading to the title of father too.”

***

Dean sighed, dumping the dishes in the motel room sink, and looked over at the TV on low volume. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before and now there was a case.

That, and his kid was sick, and he wouldn’t be there to care for him.

Cathalsis had warned the Winchesters and the family left in the motel that when the kids were to move into the next phase of their growing it would result in flu-like sickness. Both Sarah and Daniel had been quiet for most of the car ride from Jody’s to the first motel stop. Castiel had taken notice of the Nephilims’ fevered brows, and hurriedly explained to Dean and Sam the need to stop sooner than intended.

Now, Cathalsis stood over both Daniel and Sarah, whispering a healing spell, and letting out a deep sigh before he turned to both Dean and Sam.

“They will be in this state for a few days,” Cathalsis explained. “Since they are half human you may treat the symptoms as though this is human illness, but they will require bits of grace here and there. They will be weak and vulnerable. They will require much protection.”

Dean nodded in understanding, and Cathalsis nodded back before flying off.

Moments later, two flaps of wings were heard, and Lucifer and Gabriel landed in the room.

“The others will follow once the meeting is done,” Lucifer explained. “In the meantime, I guess we’re on kid duty. Slumber party anyone?”

Kevin looked up from his reading at the table. Adam peered over from where he sat in a chair in the corner. Ron was absent, having been told it was his turn to row the boat again. A cloud of angelic smoke appeared in the room and Titan, along with three other Angelhounds, appeared. Titan motioned for the others to leave the room and they obliged after bowing their heads to him.

“Looks like someone got promoted.” Gabriel commented.

 _“Nobody and nothing is getting in this room on our watch.”_ Titan looked over at Dean, his eyes flashing yellow.

“Cas told me via prayer there’s been another disturbance,” Sam explained. “We’ll be back when that disturbance is dead.”

Dean cocked his gun, placing it in the back of his pants, and he walked over to where his son lay curled up on one of the double motel beds. Daniel’s hair was sticking to his forehead and he felt warm to the touch. Dean sighed, every fiber of his being screaming at him to stay, to take care of his child. It wasn’t any different from the times Sam had been sick when he was young.

Dean watched as Sam brushed his daughter’s hair away from her head, smiling gently at her as she cracked open her eyes. Gabriel sat on the other side of the bed, looking concerned. Sam kissed Sarah’s cheek and Dean could see the same pain in his eyes that the older hunter held.

Dean kissed Daniel’s forehead, feeling the boy’s fever against his lips.

“We’ll be back when these things are dead.” Dean nodded at the others and motioned for Sam to follow him out the motel room door.

The air was heavy in the room after. Gabriel sat on the other side of his daughter’s bed, pulling her close to him, and holding her as the pair watched what was on TV. Lucifer took a seat in another chair near Adam and gazed over at his younger archangel brother. He hadn’t ignored the look Sam had given him once he’d flown into the room. He hadn’t ignored the anguish in Dean’s eyes when he’d stepped away from his son to leave on another hunt. Lucifer was shocked he was even allowed in the same room as the Winchesters and their camaraderie.

“What?” Gabriel gave a slight half chuckle to his older brother.

“You make a good dad,” Lucifer commented with all sincerity.

“Damn straight.” Gabriel nodded and went back to running his fingers through his daughter’s hair.

Lucifer smiled.

***

The hours passed on and Adam blinked blearily. Kevin had long since passed out in a chair, snoring lightly with a book still clutched in his hand. Lucifer had taken watch at the front door, dragging a chair from the lobby, and tapping his foot to a beat he was humming. Titan’s Angelhounds had taken watch outside. Titan himself was asleep at the foot of Daniel’s bed. Gabriel had conked out himself. He was the only angel Adam had ever seen sleep.

Another flap of wings filled the room. Adam looked over to see Ezra staring at him.

“Castiel is staying late,” Ezra explained. “Along with Balthazar. They believe they can track Adam and Eve if the Council combines their powers with the Warriors.”

“They think it’ll work?” Adam asked.

“It has to,” Ezra sighed. “We are running out of options.”

“Aren’t you part of the Council?” Adam asked.

“I am…not the strongest angel,” Ezra admitted, looking down and away from Adam. “The Warriors do not believe I will be helpful.”

“Castiel seems to think so,” Adam concluded, and he watched as Ezra broke into a smile moments later.

“Believe me, I know what it’s like to feel powerless in all this.”

Adam and Ezra both looked over at the sleeping kids, the Angelhound resting and watching over them, and the Prophet asleep in the other corner.

“I feel like the only one here who hasn’t done much for the cause,” Adam continued. “My brain’s been a little Hellfire scrambled, ya know.”

Ezra could tell Adam was trying to make a joke, but it fell short. He could feel the embarrassment, the shame coming off of the human in waves. The mental torture Adam had undergone would have been enough to kill any ordinary man.

The Winchesters weren’t easily putdownable though.

“You were a victim of strange circumstances,” Ezra came closer to the human and motioned to ask to sit across from him. Adam obliged.

“I remember the end of the world round one, as the Winchesters call it, very well. It is strange for me, seeing one of my brothers who was going to cause it sitting outside this room and guarding its contents. It is also strange to see my other brother’s formal vessel.”

Ezra inspected Adam up and down and Adam felt something under his skin crawl. The flutter in his chest returned at the sight of the intelligent angel’s eyes.

“Traces of him still remain in you.”

“Great,” Adam replied sarcastically. “Yet another thing to keep me up at night. Not like I really sleep anymore anyway.”

“A residual effect of being an angel’s vessel for so long,” Ezra explained, as he folded his hands and placed them in his lap once he leaned back in his seat. “You may as well be one of us.”

“If it would make me useful, sure.” Adam chuckled.

“You are useful.” Ezra replied, putting all of his feeling into the words and Adam stared. He could tell the angel meant it.

It was the first time one of their kind had spoken to him like he mattered.

“You know it has taken every fiber of my being to try and forgive those two,” Adam pointed at the door, to where Sam and Dean would inevitably walk in. “But I know this whole mess isn’t their fault. Parts of it, yes, but not those two big bads they’re trying to kill out there.”

Adam looked from the door to the kids again.

“You know what they taught me in med school before those ghouls came and ate me?” Adam continued. “They told us never to give up on a patient. Sam and Dean’s kids, the world, this cause. It’s all our patient and I want to feel like I’ve done all I can to save it.”

Adam reminded Ezra of a young Cathalsis, medically inclined with a deep seeded need to help people. His brain far outsmarted his brawn, but he could hold his own in a fight or become a chameleon and try another approach if need be.

Ezra saw a lot of himself in him too.

“You will,” Ezra assured him. “Our time will come and when it does, we will strike, and we will take it.”

Adam couldn’t help but give the angel a cheesy, but determined smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> I am exceedingly excited about the progression of this story and where it’s headed. I hope everyone who is giving it the time of day thinks so too.  
> See y’all again soon!


	8. Dream A Little Dream

The sound of a demon grunting when Ron pushed the creature into the wall behind the two of them was music to the young man’s ears.

The Hellboy held his dagger up the demon’s throat and cocked his head, staring him down, and waiting for him to try and get away. The demon squirmed for a moment, and then flashed his pearly white teeth and glared at Ron.

“Down boy,” Ron turned his head to see Crowley approaching from behind. Hades and Charon walked alongside him; eyes glowing red until they approached the apprehension of the demon, to which both of their heads moved in a similar sideways fashion, taking in the scene before them.

“Let him use his words first.”

“I told you before,” the demon growled again. “I know nothing about those two lunatics!”

“Considering you’re a higher-level demon,” Ron commented, still maintaining his hold. “I would assume you would have heard something. Now tell me, where are they going next?”

Ron had stormed into the lower levels of Hell, hot on the heels of answers, and demanded them from both Hades and Charon, who he’d found talking with Crowley about the ins and outs of Hell lately. He would have asked Austin’s father, had he been awake and risen to answer, but Croatoan had been in coma for centuries and, unfortunately, wasn’t about to provide any answers anytime soon. Charon had clarified that Austin’s ambitions were his own and that the two of them hadn’t heard a word of this supposed rise from the depths onto Earth they were all three to take. Hades had remained quiet, but essentially nodded along to everything Charon had said to Ron upon his arrival in Hades’ house in Hell.

Ron trusted his father as far as he could throw him, but two out of three of the parties in the room had denied any affiliation with a potential world takeover, and Hades, although they hadn’t been close in recent years, had never steered Ron and his own children wrong before. Crowley had simply shrugged, claiming he knew nothing of the incident.

So, that left Ron rounding up demons with Crowley and his two family members, in hopes of figuring out an answer for the Winchesters. A good number of demons had already showed their new loyalty to be on the other side versus Crowley, so it left any number of wildcards in the deck. Adam and Eve were on the move, as were Austin, Terry, and Tess, and Ron was hoping to cut them all off at the pass and end this once and for all if they could.

“Bite me,” the demon spit in Ron’s face and Ron tried his best not to flip out. “I told you, I don’t know anything about their plans! Other demons out there might, but I don’t!”

Ron brought his hand up to strike, holding the Grim Reaper shaped hilt of his dagger tightly, but a hand stopped him.

“He’s telling the truth,” Hades said. “Let him go. We’ll deal with it later.”

As much as Ron wanted to rebel, he lowered his arm, and loosened his grip. The demon waited for a moment before taking off into the dark recesses of the nearest passageway away from Demontown. Ron sighed, trying his best not to hear the screams of the souls from the river nearby.

“It’s midnight on Earth,” Crowley came over to Ron and put a hand on his shoulder. “I think we should give it a rest for tonight and go home.”

Ron didn’t want to leave. He wanted more answers. Somebody was lying, and it was hard to tell whom. He tended to believe Austin, judging by the amount of time he and his cousin had spent together, the pair had barely ever kept a secret from one another. Then again, Hades and Charon had both denied the allegations and basically called Austin crazy, denouncing any ties to him. Other demons that he had encountered that evening had given bits and pieces of information regarding everything going on, but nothing concrete.

Ron’s head was spinning, he was tired, perhaps a rest would reset his brain, as Crowley mentioned.

Ron nodded at The King of Hell, promising Crowley he’d meet him again the next morning if nothing else came up to help him search for more demons who had turned to the other side. Ron vanished in a puff of black smoke and Crowley followed, giving Hades and Charon a nod as he went.

The two underworld Gods looked at one another and back to the space where the King and Ron had disappeared.

“That boy of mine always did have a crack in his foundation off the assembly line, didn’t he?” Charon remarked.

“Patience,” Hades said. “He’s smart. He’ll know what he has to do when the time comes.”

“In the meantime?” Charon questioned, his blonde hair moving in a wisp of fog almost as he moved.

“Row the boat,” Hades replied. “Bide our time. Hope things go the way they’re intended to.”

Hades turned to face the cavern that the demon had run down and clenched his fist as his eyes glowed orange. Suddenly, a bone chilling scream echoed through the realm and the demon was pulled to Hades, struggling to get away as he tightened his fist, and the demon thrashed and shook.

The demon then vanished into nothingness as Hades stole his life and essence and collected it in the palm of his hand. He then placed it in a small orb he had contained in his pocket. The contents of the orb were black and smoky. Other demon essences.

Hades turned to face Charon and nodded.

Charon nodded back, his eyes turning red as he vanished into thin air, leaving Hades on his own. The Greek God sighed, rolling his eyes, and conjuring up a goblet of nectar as he walked the caverns back to his eternal house.

This whole deal was going to take some finagling and some careful footing, that was for sure.

***

When Ron materialized in the bunker, it was dark. There was an overwhelming feeling of angelic energy in the building. Years ago, it would have made the Hellboy nervous, but now the feeling was almost comforting.

Almost. It still reminded him of what was potentially to come and how he could stop it.

In this moment though, a smile came across his face when he entered the room he and Kevin now shared. The Prophet was buried under the covers, sleeping in Ron’s old skull and crossbones hoodie, and looking peaceful despite the chaos happening in the world around them.

Ron kicked off his sleek black Doc Martens and threw his maroon beanie on the chair nearby. He shed his jacket and most of his clothes before climbing into bed next to Kevin and wrapping the blankets around them as he settled in. Kevin groaned and rolled over, cuddling closer to the Hellboy.

Ron’s stomach lurched.

_“Don’t fuck it up.”_

Austin’s words rattled around in his head. Maybe Hades and Charon were right. Maybe this was all Austin’s idea, and he was running high off of toxic leadership fumes. Terry and Tess hadn’t said anything one way or another.

Or maybe Ron was horribly wrong, and shit would hit the fan, as usual.

For now, Ron just had to play it cool, and hope that Austin was pulling his leg on all accounts.

“It’s late.” Kevin mumbled and he yawned.

“I know,” Ron replied, hugging the Prophet tighter. “But I’m here now. Crowley needed my help. He said Meg was indisposed, didn’t say why though.”

“I understand,” Kevin said, and another yawn left his mouth.

“I love you.”

Ron’s stomach and heart both jumped at the same time. His family was here in this bunker. In his arms. He had to do whatever it took to keep them all safe.

No matter what the cost.

“I love you too, Kevin.” Ron kissed the top of his head and slowly felt his eyes starting to close.

***

_Daniel wandered in an open field._

_He wasn’t actually there, he somehow knew it was a dream, but yet it felt so strangely real. The young Nephilim was having a hard time believing he was still asleep._

_There was a beautiful tree in the middle of the grass waving in the wind. It was an old, strong oak with long thick branches and the leaves at the end shook in the breeze. The leaves themselves were a brilliant green, full of life and bounty._

_Daniel smiled, touching the base of the trunk._

_“Beautiful, isn’t it?”_

_The voice from behind him came out quick and clear. The image of the little boy from the park in Sioux Falls manifested before him. The little boy’s smile was wide, but tight lipped. Comforting, but strangely inhuman at the same time._

_The boy stepped forward and, in a flash, he was a full-grown man. His short brown hair and piercing green eyes reflected the sunlight magically. Daniel felt as though he almost couldn’t look away. Almost. The tree still called to him, luckily the man didn’t mind the inattention, it seemed._

_“I think so too,” the man said, cocking his head ever so slightly, hands in his pockets. “I am grateful my sister likes it as well. She also knows the magic of this place. The meaning behind it.”_

_“How’d you become a man so fast?” Daniel asked, staring at the man with his green and blue eyes. The man swallowed hard, stiffening up his back ever so slightly. Daniel noticed his apprehension, but there was still something comforting enough about his presence that it didn’t send the Nephilim packing._

_“Do you grow quickly like I do?” Daniel asked, but he had sort of concluded that was the case already._

_The man smiled again._

_“You’re a smart one,” he pointed a finger at Daniel and shook it. “Yes, I have the ability to change as you do. That’s why I wanted to be your friend. We have so much in common.”_

_“I don’t have many friends,” Daniel sighed. “I don’t think Sarah and I ever will. Our parents do weird things. Things they say humans don’t normally do.”_

_The man listened with the intensity of a soldier. Daniel didn’t know why, but he felt as though he could bare his soul to this man and never reap any consequences. So, he did._

_“Papa tells me I’m just like the other angels,” Daniel continued. “Just like my cousin, but I’m not. She’s better than me in every way. She’s stronger. She’s faster. She flies better. She’s everything that I’m not.”_

_“Have you ever heard the saying “that’s just what makes you special”?” the man smirked, and Daniel felt a hint of excitement well up in him. Finally, somebody understood._

_“I think that just means you haven’t found your niche yet, young one.”_

_Daniel stared at the man as he circled the tree, staring up at the branches with his hands now behind his back. He walked with the grace of Daniel’s papa, but with the confidence of his father._

_“I think you’ll know soon enough what you were intended for in this world,” the man said. “We all walk a path. It’s up to us to make the right choices to get there.”_

_The man plucked a leaf off of the tree and handed it to Daniel. The Nephilim took it and twirled it around in his fingers, looking at it in the light, and noticing how the sun filtered through so peacefully and flawlessly._

_He returned his focus to the man._

_“Count on your friends to help you get there.” The man winked and then the scene disappeared._

Daniel woke up in a sweat. His cousin was asleep beside him on the other side of the bed. Their family had placed them in the same room during their feverish change so they could monitor them better. No angels were in the room, but Daniel knew they were probably come soon. Sarah was dead asleep, sweat peppering her brow, and she hugged her favorite stuffed animal tight to her chest. She looked different; a bit older than she had when the two had fallen asleep earlier in the past few days.

Daniel’s stuffed animal was on the ground. He found that he now barely had to reach far for the floor. He too had grown in his sleep. The mirror across from them revealed the truth of the situation.

He heard the door open and his Papa walked in, his Uncle Gabriel alongside him.

“Hello son,” Castiel smiled and came over to his bedside. He ruffled his son’s hair and felt his forehead.

“It seems you are on your way to healing.”

“I feel a little better,” Daniel’s voice came out different, a tiny bit deeper than before, but nothing like that of the adults in his life.

“They’re about ten in human years now,” Gabriel concluded. “The next big jump should have them in their teen years, but that most likely will not come for a little while longer.”

Gabriel ruffled Sarah’s hair and moved it away from her face. Daniel watched his smile grow bigger at his daughter’s presence, but the smile slowly fell, and the archangel sighed. He gave a quick smile over at his nephew and Daniel swallowed hard.

Castiel kissed Daniel’s cheek and encouraged him to lay back down and sleep some more. He still wasn’t out of the woods yet. Daniel nodded, still in a daze from his dream, and watched Castiel and Gabriel close the door behind them as they left the room. Daniel strained to hear them through the door.

The Seraph and the Archangel faced one another in the hall.

“Sammy and Dean came back about an hour ago,” Gabriel reported. “They’re settling in and getting food. They said they may have to head back out again tomorrow if there’s another disturbance.”

“The Council and Warriors are still tracking Adam and Eve in my absence while the children are ill,” Castiel explained. “They said they have stopped a few monster disturbances before they have gotten out of control, but more are to come, and they still have no answers as to what Adam and Eve are up to in the long run.”

“Well,” Gabriel blew air out of his cheeks. “Guess that puts us all back to square one.”

“I wouldn’t count us out too quickly,” Castiel replied with a slight smile. “We’ve come out on top in the past and I have faith that we will again.”

“Well,” Gabriel replied as the pair made their way to their rooms. “Let’s hope fortune continues to favor the good side.”

Gabriel shut the door to his and Sam’s bedroom behind him. Castiel felt the heaviness that suddenly filled the air.

Gabriel had to be right, for all their sakes, or they were all doomed.

***

Titan and Tojo walked the streets of Lebanon, coming back from the drug store, and Titan’s thoughts were as faraway as the moon.

They were in their human forms, so as not to arouse any suspicion or get any strange looks. Tojo took on the human form of a young tan skinned Hispanic man with deep dark blackish-brown hair and deep brown eyes. His clothes were as plain as they came. The hounds placed their human hands in their pockets and their eyes remained cast down at the sidewalk as they passed by dark storefronts and flickering streetlights. They had left Chaya and the others behind to guard the outside of the bunker.

Their first stop had been to the twenty-four-hour drug store for medicine for the Nephilims. Titan carried the swinging white bag with fever reducer and cough syrup in it as the pair continued to move along.

“Never thought I’d see the day I’d be walking side by side with you to get medicine for half human abominations.” Tojo remarked.

Titan grunted in response, not offering much in the way of words. In fact, he hadn’t had much to say to Tojo and had been hoping he wouldn’t have to interact with him ever again after his trial.

“Don’t let the Winchesters and their angels hear you say such a thing,” Titan growled, his blue eyes glinting in the light they stood under. “They’d disintegrate you in a moment without hesitation. Plus, you already know how I feel.”

“You’re as bad as the rest of them,” Tojo replied. “Galivanting around with a demon was bad enough but covering your body in those absurd permanent ink paintings, cutting your hair to match the humans’, and defending their crimes against Heaven, that adds a whole new level of disrespect that I now have for you.”

Titan stopped in place and glared at Tojo, reeling on him, and his eyes went white with angelic power.

“Bane gave us orders,” Titan replied, gritting his teeth. “We are to follow them no matter what. No matter how you feel about me and my choices, you are never to forget that. Perhaps if you even took the time to learn about the humans, you’d understand how much they mean to me, and how amazing of creatures they truly are.”

“No need to get bent out of shape about it.” Tojo grumbled.

Suddenly, Titan heard Meg’s voice in his head, and concern immediately filled him.

“ _Titan, we need to talk. Get to Hell as soon as you possibly can.”_

A thousand possible negative scenarios entered the hound’s mind, but he tried his best to remain composed as he handed Tojo the bag of medicine.

“Take this back to the bunker,” Titan instructed. “I have to go attend to something.”

“Tell that black-eyed bitch of yours I said hello.” Tojo smirked, challenging the other hound, and it took everything Titan had to walk away without transforming into his hound form and grabbing Tojo by the throat until he couldn’t breathe any longer.

“Don’t count on it.” Titan countered as he vanished and made his way to Meg.

***

Meg nervously fiddled with a loose string on her jacket as she waited for her boyfriend to show up. It had been a day since Crowley had told her the news and Meg had spent the entire evening finding the right words to tell Titan the truth about what was going to happen to them in the upcoming months.

Meg had never pictured herself as a mother. Most demons didn’t try to procreate unless absolutely necessary to create more of their kind, but Meg had somehow succeeded in making three half breeds of a different variety. In fact, she hadn’t ever heard of something of their kind coming to fruition ever before.

It was scary, but the more times Meg touched her stomach, the more she grew fond of the idea.

“Meg?” Titan appeared in the doorway in his human form, staring back at her with his stunning blue eyes and her stomach lurched for reasons other than morning sickness.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-.” Meg bit her lip. This was it. The moment she’d been waiting for ever since Crowley had confirmed her suspicions.

“I sense angelic energy in here, but it’s…different. Muddled. Did other Angelhounds come and try to hurt you?”

Titan’s eyes were blown wide as he came over to her and touched her arms, staring into her eyes with worry. Meg sighed and looked down before looking back up at him with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Titan stared at her, confused.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” Meg replied. “But the reason you’re feeling that energy is because I’m pregnant. We’re going to be parents, Titan.”

Titan felt his throat dry instantly. His eyes widened even more, and he took a step back from her. His human hands trembled, causing the face of the tattoo on his arm to become blurred. Meg swallowed hard, hoping her admission wasn’t a mistake.

“How long have you known?” Titan’s voice came out quietly.

“I had suspicions for a few days now,” Meg put her hands in her jacket pockets and sort of folded in on herself to hide her stomach. “I was getting sick every morning and Crowley confirmed it yesterday.”

Titan’s head spun. He felt as though he’d been thrown into space, where there wasn’t any gravity, and he was floating helplessly. He was supposed to be in charge of protecting the Winchesters and the rest of his family and now that was going to be expanding. Titan sat down on the couch behind him, placing a hand on the back of his neck, and trying his best to comprehend everything Meg had just told him.

“Triplets,” Meg informed him. “There’s three of them in here.”

Titan looked up at his girlfriend, taking in the sight of her, and sensing her fear and longing for him to answer her. To say something. Her hands started to shake, and she looked down, letting more tears fall.

Titan took her hands in his and Meg looked up to see his lips meeting hers. Their eyes closed and he kissed her with everything he had. Meg felt the love and the passion in the kiss, and she leaned into Titan’s touch when he cupped her cheek, rubbing it with his thumb, and giving her a genuine smile.

“We’ll figure it out,” Titan assured her. “You and me. Together, with our family.”

Meg chuckled, her hand covering her remaining (now happy) tears and soaking it. She thrust herself into his arms as he hugged her, and she felt his hand go over her stomach.

“We have about five months,” Meg explained. “Crowley said he’d help deliver them.”

“You’re coming up to the bunker with me,” Titan explained. “It’s safer, with everything going on.”

Meg nodded, allowing Titan to hold her for what felt like hours, but was only a few minutes. He was right, they’d figure it out. Together, and she was glad the talk had gone well.

In the meantime, it was better to be safe than sorry, so Titan helped Meg pack a bag and the pair started out the door of her dilapidated house in Demontown to the safety of the bunker Earth side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> A lot of things were revealed and potentially answered this chapter and I am so looking forward to starting the next one on an exciting note!  
> See y’all then!


	9. Dinner and Deliberations

Even the scalding hot water of the shower wasn’t enough to soothe Dean’s aching muscles.

This hunt had been werewolves. Dean and Sam had met several Warriors of Heaven, per Balthazar’s lead, in Louisville, Kentucky and eradicated all, but one of the creatures. They’d kept the werewolf alive for hours, tied up, and asking him questions about his orders.

The Warriors were stone cold, respectful of the Winchesters, but lacked the emotion they were now so used to from other angels. They questioned the werewolf with authority, with fear and malice, and didn’t stop until every inch of its body was cut with their blades.

 _“We don’t know anything beyond the orders we were given!”_ the werewolf had yelled.

“ _And those were?”_ Maalik, one of the Warriors had pointed his angel blade to the werewolf’s throat and the werewolf had groaned in pain at it hissed and cut into his skin.

“ _Create chaos,”_ the werewolf had said. “ _Keep the Winchesters busy while our bosses fulfill their purpose. I don’t know anything beyond that, I swear!”_

The Warriors had instructed Sam and Dean to leave the room and the brothers didn’t even need to look back to know, based on the scream that echoed through the walls of the dilapidated abandoned motel room, what the end result had been.

Two Warrior angels had flown in to report the loss of another lead on Adam and Eve, but they were going to work night and day to catch up. Sam and Dean had simply tiredly nodded, and the angels had flown away, promising to check in again soon.

Dean had barely made it home awake. Crashing his precious car was out of the question, but the shut eye he had gotten the night before had been graciously welcomed. Now, scrubbing the filth and grime from his body felt as close to Heaven as he knew he would probably get.

Dean paused when he looked down at his chest.

The stab wound from Michael’s blade had long since scarred over, but the bone white color reminded Dean of the months before, when he’d sacrificed himself to keep Castiel and the others alive. It was strange, death had never impacted Dean in such a way before.

“It was a brave thing, you did.”

Castiel’s strong arms wrapped around Dean’s middle and the angel and the hunter stood, eyes closed, for a moment beneath the warm spray coming from the shower head. The droplets echoed loudly against the tile walls surrounding them. Dean slicked his hair back and turned to face Castiel.

The angel’s piercing blue eyes stared up into Dean’s green ones and Castiel gave his boyfriend a gentle smile. Dean returned it, feeling his heart in his chest dance the longer he stared. Castiel’s hair was soaked, as was the bare rest of him, and Dean hadn’t seen such a breathtaking sight in a long time.

“The kids are better,” Castiel informed him. “Sam said he spoke to several hunters on the phone over the past few hours, including Charlie, who is on her way here now to assist.”

“That’s great Cas,” Dean smiled wider. His son feeling well again, Charlie coming to visit despite the chaos, and his family all in one place for a single moment since the mess had started. It was all enough to cause his heart to swell with happiness.

Castiel closed the distance between them and kissed Dean, gently, passionately. The hunter cupped the angel’s cheeks and kissed back.

Slowly, steam wasn’t the only heated thing in the vicinity.

***

Sam lifted his head up from his computer to see a cup of coffee placed before him. He wasn’t the only one in the library, but the safety of the bunker allowed him to be in his own head a little bit more than normal.

He smiled, expecting Gabriel to be the source of the refreshment, but another face appeared instead. Sam swallowed hard, trying his best to keep his composure.

“May I sit?” Lucifer asked.

Sam hesitated a moment, then nodded, and Lucifer took a seat. The Archangel snapped his fingers and padded footsteps were heard before his hound, Chaya, appeared and laid down by his feet.

“She’s been guarding the outside for hours now,” Lucifer explained. “Deserves a rest.”

“Where’s Balthazar?” Sam asked, his voice tight and shoulders rigid with both pain and nerves.

“Heaven,” Lucifer said. “Giving Castiel the rest of his much-needed break until after tonight.”

Lucifer cocked his head at Sam’s wrist and shoulder. They were heavily bruised. The encounter with the werewolves had gone South for a moment and Sam had taken a few hits too many into the walls surrounding the fight.

Lucifer hesitated a moment before reaching across the table and taking Sam’s wrist in his grip. Sam jumped, but the Archangel held firm, and light erupted from his palm. Sam felt his aching body parts healing and eventually the pain fully subsided, along with the weariness in his bones. Lucifer sat back in his chair and Sam stared at the former evil being.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever said this out loud in so many words before,” Lucifer began. “If I have, please just let me say it again. I don’t ever expect anything from you, Sam. Not ever again. Not even forgiveness.”

“Where’s this going, Lucifer?” Sam asked, half curious, and yet, still half expecting a trick.

“There’s a strange magic in being forgiven by the Man who made everything,” Lucifer continued. “Father knows where he is now, no pun intended. In fact, he’s gone strangely radio silent since this whole thing began, but that seems to bother Castiel more than me.”

Sam nodded, waiting for Lucifer to continue. Chaya let out a deep sigh in her sleep and Lucifer petted behind her ear as he finished speaking.

“Ambition blinds people,” Lucifer continued. “Myself included, even though I don’t technically count as people, but the amount of ambition I’ve seen blind this family in the name of good is astounding. At first, I never understood Father’s reasoning behind this whole worship thing when it came to you guys, as you know. Now, I think I finally do.”

“Your conclusion being?” Sam asked.

“Love,” Lucifer sighed. “Love is the reason for everything. It’s the reason good triumphs evil. It’s the reason I’m sitting here right now instead of fighting against you all with the other side. When I saw Gabriel with that child of yours the other night, lying in bed with her and holding her, smiling down at her, I knew I’d seen the love Father intended us for. If so many of my Brothers and Sisters are capable of such a thing, I have to try and be capable of it too.”

Sam stared for a moment, astounded at the words coming out of Lucifer’s mouth.

“I’m so eternally sorry, Sam.” Lucifer finished. “Please know that, even if you don’t believe it. Even if you never will. It’s the truth. No tricks this time or ever again.”

Sam hesitated to believe him, but Lucifer was sitting right here in front of him, talking positively and nothing bad had happened. No dark forces had stormed the room. Sam hadn’t felt a tug like he had so long ago with the demon blood. A piece of Balthazar’s grace shone brightly in the gem of the ring on Lucifer’s finger.

With darkness, came the light, and they balanced one another. Perhaps, Sam hadn’t looked hard enough lately at that fact.

Sam stuck out his hand and Lucifer, confused at first, slowly moved his towards the hunter’s. The pair shook, tightly and firmly, and a small smile crept across Sam’s face.

“For the good of the world,” Sam commented. “I do hope you’re telling the truth.”

“For the good of the world,” Lucifer replied and nodded. “You’ll have to trust that I am.”

“For the love of all bromances,” Ron groaned from the corner of the library. Kevin sat across from the Hellboy, who was currently flipping his way through a Biblical reference book. “Just slap one another on the ass and hug it out already like other men do!”

Kevin snickered. Sam glared. Lucifer smirked.

Ezra flew into the room moments later, bringing with him a dizzy Adam. The third Winchester sibling held onto his stomach and rolled his eyes as he let out a sigh.

“A little warning next time before an unwarranted takeoff!” Adam remarked.

“The news could not wait.” Ezra cocked his head and looked over at the human beside him.

“We were three rooms down! We could have walked here!” Adam hiccupped and Sam tried his hardest not to laugh. Clearly, he was more accustomed to angel travel than others in the household.

“Your daughter and nephew are up and walking again,” Ezra said to Sam. “Your guest has also arrived, and your brother has called everyone to the map room.”

Sam shot up from his seat and the others followed suit as they walked towards the main part of the bunker.

***

Daniel sat at the long table with the map of the world printed on it. Tiny red lights blinked all over, indicating other bunkers similar to their home. The young Nephilim stared at them, hypnotized by the flashes.

“You okay?” Sarah asked her cousin. She sat across from him.

Daniel stared for a moment at his cousin. Her long brown hair was washed and shiny under the bunker’s fluorescent lighting. Hints of blonde were coming to the surface now that she had aged a little bit. Her brilliant golden eyes were the spitting image of her Papa’s.

In all senses of the word, Sarah was magnificent, and Daniel felt his gut jump at how ordinary he felt in her presence. He’d seen his reflection in the mirror before he’d left the bathroom after cleaning up the remnants of fever sweat. Ink dark black-brown hair like his Papa’s. A mess of tiny freckles across his cheeks, like his dad. His eyes, still their two colors, but bolder now.

Great, he’d thought, his weirdness stood out even more.

“I’ll be okay,” Daniel replied. “You?”

“I don’t feel any wiser,” Sarah remarked with a smile. “Older though.”

Daniel smiled.

The two Nephilim turned to see their parents’ approaching from the other room. They hadn’t seen either of their dads for days since they’d gotten sick. Sam smiled brightly and got down on a knee, opening his arms for Sarah to run into, and she did. He wrapped her in a tight hug, and she smushed her face in his neck.

Dean gave a bold smile to his son. He felt that phantom pain in his chest from the blade. He felt the tug of the sadness rising from having missed so many big moments in his child’s life because of Heaven or Hell or monsters.

Dean came over to Daniel fast and scooped him up into his arms. He buried his face in his son’s neck as he hugged him and then pulled away to kiss his forehead.

“Not so much of a little man, anymore are you?” Dean remarked.

“Dad…” Daniel sighed.

“Woah,” Dean put him down and threw his hands up playfully. “You’re not a teenager yet! That means I can’t truly embarrass you!”

Daniel caught his Papa’s eye from behind Dean and Castiel’s genuine gentle smile was enough to pull one out of Daniel. Gabriel cast a similar look Sam and Sarah’s way before smiling over at his Brother.

In less than five minutes, the room was full. Sam, Lucifer, Chaya, Ron, Kevin, Adam, and Ezra came from the left. Crowley appeared in a puff of smoke, followed not long after by Titan and Meg on the right. Balthazar flew in moments later, snapping his fingers to summon the other Angelhounds on guard outside. They appeared by his side with their eyes glowing. Another voice called out from behind Sam and Dean and the brothers turned to see a familiar redhead.

“Quite a party we got here,” Charlie remarked with a smile. “I would have brought drinks, had I known.”

“Charlie,” Sam engulfed her in a hug first, followed by Dean.

“Alright boys,” Charlie gave a determined look. “I’ve got three cans of Red Bull in the car, a fast laptop, and the hacking skills of a CIA agent.”

Everyone waited eagerly for her next words.

“Let’s track these bitches down.”

***

It was surreal, having that much joyful noise in the bunker, but Dean found he had craved a lack of silence like a man craves water in the desert.

Dean stirred a giant pot of noodles, preparing for the best spaghetti dinner known to man to be ready in a short half hour. He added a few spices to the sauce, listening to bits and pieces of the conversation around him.

Crowley passed a beer to Kevin and to Ron and the two young men popped the caps like old professionals and took a few sips. Adam and Ezra stood nearby, cradling their own beers, and waiting on the Prophet to finish his story.

“I thought humans questioned the legality of giving minors alcohol?” Ezra asked and Adam chuckled in response.

Dean didn’t say anything, even though he wanted to.

“I’m a Prophet of God,” Kevin remarked. “I’ve been through enough shit to justify breaking this law.”

“I’ve been alive and eighteen for hundreds of years.” Ron shrugged and took another sip.

“I crave a little chaos here and there.” Crowley smirked.

Dean felt a playful smile creep across his features, listening to the last tendrils of Kevin recounting his dive into Prophethood as most of the group exited the kitchen and walked off down the hall.

“Feels almost illegal,” Crowley remained, now standing beside Dean while he cooked. “Celebrating in any way while they’re still out there.”

Dean looked over at the King of Hell with apprehension and slight fear at the comment. Of course, Crowley had mentioned the elephant in the room. He did crave chaos, after all.

“We’ll find them Squirrel,” Crowley lifted his drink in a cheers of promise and took a sip. “I will do anything in my power to help you and Moose stop this. I owe you all that much for helping me with Abaddon.”

“Hell, is it still ass backwards?” Dean asked.

“Meg and I regained a decent amount of control after you all got out alive,” Crowley replied. “Young Ronald has been helping me as of late, due to Meg’s unforeseen absence, rounding up subordinate demons and trying to pull answers out of them like teeth. So far, no dice. Nobody’s talking.”

“You think they know something about this?” Dean asked.

“It’s possible,” Crowley nodded. “This will require a bit more time, but I have some help down under. I’ll get you your answers, one way or another.”

“I appreciate it,” Dean nodded. “We all do.”

“Well it’s as they say,” Crowley lifted his beer once again. “Long live the Winchesters and their road to victory.”

***

“You said the reason the angels are having trouble finding Adam and Eve is because they’re cloaking themselves,” Charlie said to Castiel, as the pair leaned over the map of Earth and her laptop. “Can’t hide from security cameras or financial records.”

“I am not sure they are capable of understanding such things,” Castiel replied. “How do you intend to find them?”

“I have my ways,” Charlie replied. “They’ll slip up at some point. A theft for human pleasures. A check in to a motel with strange aliases. Strange energy blackouts or power outages. We’ll find them.”

Castiel looked up to see Gabriel, Balthazar, and Lucifer in the room nearby with Titan and Meg and the kids. Titan had shifted into his human form, sitting on the couch, and playing cards with Sarah and Daniel. Meg watched him with pure love in her eyes, as he interacted with the Nephilim. Balthazar and Lucifer sat in chairs opposite the game, taking a rest, and Gabriel smiled at the scene, along with one of the Angelhounds in her human form as well, Chaya, in the entrance of the room.

“You know,” Charlie remarked. “I think the last time I was here, that little boy was in you. You and Dean were so scared, but now it’s nice to see you both smile.”

Titan’s laughter erupted and filled the room. Sarah squealed in laughter and Daniel smiled quietly as the hound declared himself the winner. Gabriel laughed along with his daughter and the others watched silently with smiles on their faces.

“Family truly is everything,” Castiel replied, with a smile of his own.

***

Dinner was served at the long map table. Chairs were pulled from other rooms to accommodate everyone. Plates clacked together as people served themselves and others. Although the angels didn’t need to eat, they took servings anyway, much to Dean’s delight.

The eldest Winchester stood at the head of the table, about halfway through the meal, and raised his glass.

“Can I just say,” Dean announced. “That even though all Hell has broken loose out there, that we deserve this moment right here, right now. Those two evil sons of bitches can try all they want, but they won’t win. We’re too united, too powerful, against them. We beat Heaven.”

He turned to look at the angels and their hounds.

“We beat Hell.”

His gaze went to Meg, Crowley, and Ron.

“Now,” Dean lifted his glass high and the others at the table followed suit. “We’re gonna beat this and have our lives back. Who’s with me?!”

A chorus of yelps, hoots and hollers rose up from the table and drinks were consumed at a quick rate after the speech concluded. Tojo and Adonis shifted in their hound forms, returning to their posts outside, and taking their turn on guard. Chaya and Titan nodded at them before they vanished.

“I think that a congratulations is also in order for Titan and Meg tonight,” Crowley piped up and the others listened on bated breath for the rest of Crowley’s sentence. “You wish to do the honors, mutt?”

It was an affectionate jab, and Titan smiled before lifting his glass again.

“Expect three new little miracles of ours to be running around here soon.” Titan announced.

Another round of cheers and congratulations made its way around the table. Only Crowley noticed Chaya’s hesitation, her energy turning in on itself as she forced a smile and clapped for her friend.

***

Shortly after the short-lived festivities, Daniel was helping clear the last of the plates, and stacking them in the arms of his cousin. Sarah smiled at him, thanking him for helping as well, and she disappeared down the hallway headed for the cleanup crew in the kitchen.

Daniel was alone in the main room, taking in the sight of the stone walls, and the giant spiraling black staircase behind him. It was wicked, how the shyness and quiet still creeped in, whilst surrounded by his family.

_“Count on your friends to help you get there.”_

The words of the man from his dreams resonated deep inside Daniel’s brain. His family was the most important thing in the world, but even in crowded rooms, Daniel felt alone. There wasn’t any explaining it, but the feeling was there.

Isolation bred thoughts of helplessness, and now that he’d grown in age, Daniel felt an even stronger desire to help the cause than ever before.

For now, he’d settle for clearing a table. For later, he’d rely on his only true friend to provide him comfort as he navigated the battle filled days to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Whew, I am just on a roll! Here’s hoping the rhythm lasts long! See y’all in the next chapter!


	10. All Hallow's Eve

Balthazar sighed as he stared down at the map before him. The blinking lights had gone completely blank. Nothing was lighting up. Everything had been quiet for the past few days.

Too quiet.

“Even Castiel left before you,” Lucifer commented as he approached his mate. The Morningstar stopped beside the other angel, placing his hands upon the table, and staring at the same marks Balthazar was.

“Castiel’s doing research,” Balthazar explained and then let out a small chuckle. “He claimed he was going home afterward. I tend not to believe him.”

“Can you blame him?” Lucifer replied. “His family has never gotten a single moment of peace since the original affair with Heaven.”

“His family is your family too,” Balthazar mentioned. “You know that, right?”

Lucifer stared intently at the map board, trying to take Balthazar’s words to heart. It had been a strange feeling, finally being back in Heaven and his Father accepting him back with open arms, but it was an even stranger feeling calling people who he’d once worked so hard against. It almost didn’t feel like he had the right.

“I-.” Lucifer started to say, but then the pair heard yelling from down the way in the Big House. Lucifer and Balthazar gave a look to one another and took off running in the direction of the scuffle.

Unbeknownst to them, the light closest to the center of the United States slowly begun to blink.

***

“I demand to speak to Father!” Castiel cried out, trying to fight against the confines of another angel’s wrist as he held the Seraph back from the door.

Two angels stood on either side of the doorframe, staring stone cold at Castiel. Their arms were crossed behind their backs, like soldiers standing at attention at boot camp.

“He is not available.” One of the angels said.

“You’ve been saying that for months now,” Castiel jerked his hand away from the angel holding him back. The Seraph got close to the angel’s face, practically snarling, and baring his teeth as he spoke.

“If He can hole up in there doing whatever it is, He is doing,” Castiel said with a snarky tone. “Then He can help us with the problem at hand down on Earth!”

“Father is doing what He can to help.” The angel nodded and stared back forward.

Castiel glared, clenching his fists, and winding up to punch the angel before him, and then a new hand on his arm stopped him.

“Castiel,” Balthazar said. “We should go home. The children are waiting for you.”

Castiel allowed his shoulders to relax, picturing his son in his mind as he checked in on the bunker mentally. Right now, Daniel was sitting patiently on a stool in the bathroom as Dean tried his best to work his way through a face paint tutorial.

It was Halloween on Earth. The last quiet night before the Winchesters had decided to chase new leads regarding Adam and Eve. They had promised it to the kids. Castiel let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes before opening them once again.

“Fine,” Castiel said. “But I will return, and Father will have answers for me, for us.”

Balthazar, Lucifer, and Castiel all flew away at once. Their flaps of wings covered the sound of the door cracking open ever so slightly and Chuck’s face peering through the crack before it quickly shut once more.

The angels remained steadfast, not breaking their stance once, even long after the door shut.

***

“You sure you know what you’re doing, Gabe?” Sam asked.

He and the Archangel stood before their daughter, who sat patiently on the bathroom countertop and looked upwards as Gabriel painted carefully under her eyes. She stared at the black circles around her eyes. It made them look like hollowed out empty sockets.

Sarah smiled brightly, cocking her head as she stared at herself in the mirror behind her.

“Sammy,” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I’ve been alive for millennia; I think I can follow a simple makeup tutorial. I’ve seen thousands of them.”

Listening to her parents bicker, even if it wasn’t a true argument, caused Sarah to chuckle. Rarely did they ever fight and if they did, it was over something dumb and insignificant in the long run. Daniel would have agreed with her. They would have been silently giving one another a look had he not been in another part of the bunker bathhouse, having his own makeup done by her Uncle Dean.

“Papa,” she mentioned his name and Gabriel immediately turned his head to face her, Sam too. Sarah gave a sideways smirk, snapped her fingers, and immediately all three of them were covered in perfect face paint. Sam touched his cheek and let out a slight gasp in the mirror.

“I wanted to let you guys have some fun first.” Sarah explained.

“Wise beyond your years little trickster,” Gabriel smirked, patting her head. “You’ll go far.”

“Yeah,” Sam scoffed. “As long as she doesn’t go about trapping people in TV lands and causing them a load of mental pain.”

“That was one time!” Gabriel exclaimed.

“Guys,” Dean called out from the other side of the shower stalls and slowly, he and Daniel emerged, faces covered in black and white paint.

“Behold, I did it!”

The entire family had chosen to be skeletons to commemorate the kids’ first occasion of the holiday. It was simple and easy, and not reflective of anything Sam and Dean would sooner stab a blade through to kill on any other given day. Daniel gave an awkward smile, revealing his perfect white teeth, and his blue eye and green eye stood out powerfully against the makeup.

Other family members had begun to enter the bathroom. Titan came through first, makeup done by Meg, and his tattoos and blonde hair sticking out in contrast with the face paint just as vibrantly as Daniel’s eyes.

“Looking good, kid.” Titan nudged Daniel with his elbow and the Nephilim shrugged.

“That’s nothing,” Ron laughed and suddenly the air around him grew warped and fuzzy before his true face came forth. Nothing, but a skull with blazing red eyes and never-ending black holes for sockets.

“I don’t even need makeup to scare the shit out of people tonight.”

“Show off,” Kevin rolled his eyes, but it was said playfully as he linked arms with the Hellboy, and Ron shifted back to normal.

“I think the kids look great,” Adam commented as Ezra came up behind him wearing similar makeup.

“I don’t understand this concept,” Ezra cocked his head. “Do we dress up to hide? Do we do it to scare people? I’m getting so many mixed messages.”

“That pet angel of yours is simply adorable, Milligan.” Crowley commented as he appeared in a puff of smoke between Daniel and Sarah and handed each of them an orange plastic pumpkin that he conjured up from thin air.

Adam blushed, but tried to hide it. Ezra remained looking confused.

“Your dad will be here soon,” Dean mentioned to Daniel. “Just remember that we all need to stick together unless you two are going up to a house okay?”

“Okay Uncle Dean,” Sarah nodded, expressing her frustration. “Can we go soon? I don’t want the good candy to be gone!”

“One Halloween alive and the kid already knows the facts,” Gabriel excitedly smiled. “She’s definitely my flesh and grace.”

Sam rolled his eyes and Dean shook his head as he told the kids to go wait in the backseat of the Impala as he went to grab the keys. Sam and Gabriel exchanged words with Ron, Adam, and Ezra who were all planning on attending a local haunted house for the fun experience of seeing normal humans getting scared by plastic fangs and fog machines. It truly was entertainment in comparison to what the family faced on the daily. Titan and Meg were joining Sam, Gabriel, Castiel, and Dean in taking the kids around the nearby neighborhood.

“And you?” Dean asked Crowley.

“I think it’s about time I continued my research,” Crowley replied. “The angels have done overtime lately. Hell needs to pull its weight.”

“We appreciate the efforts,” Lucifer said as he, Balthazar, and Castiel all landed in the main room of the bunker.

“We will assist Charlie in watching over the bunker and doing research of our own tonight.” Balthazar commented. “It’s been too quiet these last few days. They’re planning something, we just don’t know what.”

Sam and Dean exchanged worried looks, casting them back to the angels. Wondering if they should cancel the evening. It would crush the kids, but their lives had never really allowed for much fun to begin with. Perhaps, it was time the kids learned that.

“No,” Lucifer shook his head, feeling strange telling the Winchesters what was up. “You two have done enough lately. You and your kids deserve one night. We can handle things this evening. Charlie is monitoring the area and any surrounding areas. We can fly to anything out of state.”

Sam reluctantly nodded, research being his forte. Dean was easier to convince, as he swiped up the Impala’s keys and tossed them to Sam, motioning for his younger brother to start up the car. Dean then turned to Castiel, who had worn a disconcerting look since the moment he’d arrived.

“Cas,” Dean asked. “What is it? Are you okay?”

Castiel looked up at Dean. Looking the man in the eyes when he was on the verge of no answers, it felt almost like a crime.

“I feel as though I am failing,” Castiel explained. “That I am failing the Council. That I am failing our family because we are still living in fear of Adam and Eve and what they’ve yet to do. Father hasn’t spoken to me since his return, nor since my appointment as Council Leader. It feels-.”

“Like you’ve been robbed,” Dean nodded. “Like he’s deceived you once again.”

“Exactly,” Castiel nodded back and Dean placed a hand on the angel’s back. “I do not wish to burden you with these thoughts tonight, Dean. I just wanted one night for our children to have a normal, fun human experience before things go bad again.”

“And they will,” Dean cupped one of Castiel’s cheeks, making the angel look at him. “We’ll make sure nothing bad happens, and for the record, Cas, you’re the furthest thing from a failure.”

Dean stroked Castiel’s cheek and then kissed him, letting their foreheads touch for a moment as they closed their eyes.

“I know I don’t tell you that enough,” Dean said. “I never have, and I’m sorry, but it’s true. I can promise you that it’s true.”

“Okay Dean,” Castiel nodded. “I believe you.”

His words lied. Ever since Father had closed his door on all the angels, despite having supposedly returned for them, and ever since the two oldest scourges of the Earth had returned topside, Castiel didn’t know what to believe anymore.

So instead, he did as he had done many times before, he followed Dean Winchester out of the bunker and into the unknown.

***

“The other hounds didn’t want to join in the human fun?” Meg commented, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she and Titan, in his human form, followed the Winchesters and their mates down the sidewalk, past screaming and laughing hordes of children talking about their candy acquisitions, and stopped every time the kids found a new place to trick or treat.

“I think we’ve established that’s below them,” Titan commented as he held Meg’s hand, admiring the decorations on the house before them.

“They refuse to fraternize with humans beyond orders.” Titan explained.

“And you?” Meg asked.

“I’ve always had a crack in my foundation.” Titan replied, and barely moved out of the way in time for two children to come barreling down the sidewalk after one another. One of the little girls tripped right in front of them, spilling some of her candy, and going down hard on her knee. She begun to sniffle, and cry and Titan instinctively let go of Meg’s hand and went to her side.

“Hey,” Titan consoled her. “It’s okay, kid. It happens. I’m sure it probably hurts, but you’re gonna be okay.”

The kid nodded, staring up into Titan’s eyes and Meg could see this sort of calm befall the human. It seemed Titan’s angelic healing extended far beyond physical wounds when he needed it to. The little girl’s mother caught up to her, almost out of breath, and stared at the scene.

“Here,” Titan commented. “I’ll help you pick up your candy.”

Sure, to his word, the hound dropped every piece of candy back in her bag and the little girl wiped the last of her tears as she smiled at Titan and then pressed herself tightly against her mom’s leg.

“Shy?” Meg asked.

“A little,” the mom frantically nodded. “You two have any kids out tonight?”

“Not yet,” Titan commented, and a proud smile crossed his face as he reached for Meg’s stomach and cupped it. The mom smiled.

“We’re with our niece and nephew,” Titan finished. “Next Halloween though.”

“How exciting,” the mom nodded. “Congratulations and I hope we’ll see you next year!”

“We hope so too.” Meg said, trying to hide her somber undertones.

If they didn’t manage to stop Adam and Eve and whatever ridiculous planned that had concocted, there might not be a following year. Titan swallowed hard, sharing the same thought, and squeezed Meg’s hand tightly as the pair watched the mother and daughter walk away, catching up to the other kid who had been running before them.

“You were good with her,” Meg commented, rubbing her stomach, and squeezing Titan’s hand back. “You’re gonna be a good dad. I can already tell.”

“Anything for my family.” Titan replied, turning his head at the sound of Dean whistling and motioning for them to follow the group.

As the Winchester family moved on, they lacked in noticing a pair of eyes attached to a rather slender and young man watching from the shadows nearby. The man smirked and then stepped off the tree he’d been leaning against.

“Got him,” the man commented and quickly shifted into the visage of a little boy wearing the same makeup as the Winchesters.

“I think it’s time we get this ball rolling just a little bit faster, don’t you, sister dear?”

“ _Whatever it takes love,”_ Eve commented through Adam’s head. “ _Whatever it takes.”_

***

Charlie gulped down her third energy drink of the night and clicked away on her keyboard, checking cameras and monitoring police scanners. Charlie stopped sipping upon hearing a slurping sound nearby and she slowly turned her head to see Balthazar drinking his own version of her drink.

“You feeling anything yet?” Charlie asked.

“It would take at least fifty of these for me to even feel jazzed in the least, my dear,” Balthazar smirked, chuckled, and then set the empty can down on the table before them.

“Have you found anything yet?”

“Nah,” Charlie shook her head. “I didn’t expect to though. These are human methods of tracking people. I just wish I had access to the angel’s stuff. I could definitely find them that way.”

Lucifer appeared in the doorway, walking over to the table, and setting a water down in front of Charlie. He nodded towards it, expressing that she needed to start drinking it, and although Charlie rolled her eyes, she still drank quite a bit before stopping.

“There is a way.” Lucifer commented and the other two stared at him.

“I could give you mental access to our charts,” Lucifer explained. “I could create a projection here in the bunker so you may see our maps.”

“That would be awesome!” Charlie exclaimed and then made a confused face. “Wow, never thought I’d be thanking the devil for anything.”

“Believe me,” Lucifer hesitated a moment, but then pressed his fingers to Charlie’s temples and closed his eyes. “You’re not the first to say that lately.”

The air in the room begun to vibrate. A flash of light was seen and all of a sudden, a new map appeared overtop the old one on the long table before the trio. Charlie’s eyes widened at the sight and she touched the table. The image rippled like water before settling and Charlie took in the sight of the red dots everywhere.

“They represent major cities and their surrounding areas,” Balthazar explained. “The Council and the Warriors have been using them to track the whereabouts, or as close as we can get, to Adam and Eve.”

“How does it work?” Charlie asked.

“Celestial energy,” Balthazar replied. “Adam and Eve were created by God, which means we can track their whereabouts anywhere on the map as long as they aren’t cloaking themselves.”

“That is wicked cool!” Charlie exclaimed, before starting to analyze the map. Balthazar and Lucifer dug through books of lore alongside her. The three working diligently as the hours ticked on.

***

Daniel thanked the Lebanon citizens left and right once they placed candy in his pillowcase. He and Sarah had been given the rundown on the holiday of Halloween in the car on the way into town by their fathers. Neither of them hadn’t ever had the chance to trick or treat themselves but had been in enough towns over the course of their lives to see it happening and know how it was done.

Sarah smiled boldly and thanked the next person to hand them candy right after Daniel did and the pair practically bounded down the steps to the house and then leapt off the last one onto the sidewalk below. The cousins giggled and looked inside one another’s bags.

“Dang,” Daniel remarked. “They gave you a whole candy bar!”

“Cause my outfit is cuter,” Sarah teased Daniel. “You look scary!”

“No fair…” Daniel made a pouty face, but it quickly turned into a smile.

Despite their differences, and Sarah clearly being the favorite, at least in Daniel’s mind, he couldn’t stay mad at his cousin.

“C’mon!” Sarah called out, motioning for Daniel to follow. “There’s one last house, this way!”

Sarah took off running through the hordes of kids surrounding both Nephilim. Daniel suddenly felt cramped, as though a giant wall of fish had swallowed him and made him one of their own. His dad and Papa were busy talking to his Uncle Sam and Uncle Gabriel in the cul-de-sac, not paying too much close attention to the duo as they went from house to house. The other children of Lebanon chatted with one another down the sidewalk, acting as though Daniel didn’t exist as they pushed past him.

Daniel theorized it was because he and his cousin rarely got out of the bunker, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Wow,” a familiar voice that Daniel had heard once before cut through the loud air. “Tough break, kid.”

Daniel turned his head to see the young boy from the playground back in Sioux Falls, standing before him, and smiling as he leaned against a nearby tree. The boy was wearing practically the same outfit as Daniel and smirked upon giving the Nephilim a onceover.

“Nice outfit though.” the boy finished.

Daniel swallowed hard and watched as the boy reached out his hand and took Daniel’s in his own. Suddenly, the pair were in a familiar looking field with a beautiful tree. Daniel gazed, amazed at the area he’d ended up in by what appeared to be magic, and the fact that he had seen it before.

It was the tree and the field from his last fever dream.

“What are you doing here?” Daniel asked, confused, and he cocked his head. “Are you…following me?”

“More or less,” the boy shrugged. “Think of me kind of as an imaginary friend. I go where you go because we’re connected.”

“Connected?” Daniel questioned.

“How do you think I got here?” the boy replied. “How do you think I brought you to this exact location?”

“Magic,” Daniel muttered. “It must be magic.”

“Something like that,” the boy walked around the trunk of the tree once and then smiled at Daniel again.

“Or perhaps, something deeper runs in between you and I.”

***

Charlie hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

She’d crashed from the energy drinks and found herself face down in the book nearest her on the map table. Lucifer’s projection of the Heavenly map still remained. The two angels continued to flip through flimsy old pages to find answers that they were sure didn’t exist.

That is, until the map begun to flash.

Charlie awoke at the sound the light made and the commotion from the angels and stared down at the map to read it.

“Holy shit,” she said before dialing on her phone with shaky fingers.

***

“I had a dream,” Daniel explained in a nervous tone as he watched the boy circle the tree and play with the leaves closest to the ground.

“You were there with me,” Daniel continued. “We were here, in this field.”

“Crazy how that works right?” the boy chuckled.

“But you were older,” Daniel gave him a look. “Why are you young again now?”

“Time is fluid,” the boy explained. “I can change it if I want to. Call it an imaginary friend perk.”

“Whatever you say,” Daniel replied. “Why are we here now though?”

“Daniel,” the boy shook his head and chuckled, placing a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and with the other, he handed Daniel something.

It was a perfect leaf.

“Did you ever stop and think that maybe you were intended to be here for a good reason?”

Daniel paused, thinking of what to say back, but before he could speak the boy suddenly shot his gaze up and backed into the shadows before vanishing before Daniel’s very eyes. The young Nephilim felt lightheaded, as though he’d been dragged underwater and tossed up in a wave back to the air. He shook his head. The leaf still remained in his hand by the stem.

“Daniel!” he heard his father call out and suddenly Dean was on his knees, hugging Daniel close to him and pressing him hard into his chest.

Dean closed his eyes tight, feeling his heart race faster than on any hunt he’d ever been on, and tears started to fall even though he fought them.

“Where the hell were you?!” Dean demanded. “We look away for five minutes and Sarah says she can’t find you either!”

Daniel was still stunned, feeling as though he could barely speak, much less move. He dropped the leaf, watching as it floated to the ground and laid to rest beside his father’s right foot. His Papa came up next, placing a hand on his father’s shoulder and providing a comforting touch.

“He is safe, Dean.” Castiel reminded Daniel’s father.

Dean wanted to protest, wanted to remind Castiel of all that had been going on lately, and why his worry was justified, but instead he kept his mouth shut and simply held his son tighter than before.

Daniel rested his chin on Dean’s shoulder, looking over it to see his worried uncles and his cousin, staring at him as though he didn’t belong on the Earthen plane. It was overshadowed by fear, her gaze, but Daniel felt his heart sink, nonetheless. Titan had shifted into his hound form and came up alongside the boy, also worried, and nudged his hand as Daniel reached out to pet the hound's head. Meg stood back beside Sam, sharing a look with him as they watched Dean hold onto his boy.

Yet, something still tugged at his gut. A feeling of contentment. As though the boy were right.

As though he had been meant to find this place, and Daniel suspected it wouldn’t be the last time he’d visit the empty field in his lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> The plot thickens! The field and tree from Daniel’s dream is real, but what does it all mean? And why is the boy only talking to him? Well, I think that question may have been partially answered already, but there’s nothing like adding more to the plot!  
> More to come soon!


	11. An Ever Growing Threat

Daniel sat on his bed, staring off into the distance at the wall.

It had been his daily routine for the better part of what had been close to a month. Ever since the incident on Halloween, the Nephilim had essentially been put on house arrest. Instructed not to leave the bunker without a family member present, and even those trips had been few and far between.

_“Dad, honest. I don’t know what happened, but I’m safe. I’m fine.”_

He had tried to convince his father, but the hunter wasn’t having it. Dean had simply sat down on the edge of Daniel’s bed, placed a hand upon his shoulder, and told him it was just until they figured things out.

Daniel had officially concluded that things were taking a long ass time to figure themselves out.

He had read every book on his bookshelf twice, having tried to pass the long hours with knowledge instead of wasted time. Hell, he could have probably spoken every paragraph word for word if somebody asked him to.

He’d invited Titan, Crowley, Uncle Sam and Uncle Gabriel, the angels, anyone who was available to have a conversation with him to do so. Some of his family had sat with him for hours, some only for minutes, but either way it felt nice to be seen.

It felt nice to not be a freak for a few beautiful minutes out of the day.

Daniel turned his head quickly at the sound of his bedroom door creaking open. He half expected and hoped it was one of his parents, come to tell him that his time in isolation was up. That the tests and probing of his brain would slow.

Instead, his cousin darkened his doorway.

“Hey,” Sarah said, rather quietly, and shut the door behind her.

“Hey,” Daniel sighed, beckoning for her to come over with his head. “How’s the real world?”

“It’s hanging in there,” Sarah joked. “How are you?”

“Having the time of my life.” Daniel sarcastically remarked.

The two Nephilim hadn’t grown significantly in size once more, but in intellect they were both at least fourteen years old. Their next growth spurt wasn’t due for another month, Cathalsis had theorized and shared with Daniel, having been the one to deep dive into his brain for the past few weeks.

Sarah looked around, taking in the room, and the sheer monotony of it.

The walls were a dull tannish white. The floor was deep brown. Same as hers, but something about Daniel’s room just felt more…medicinal. As though they were trapped in a ward with no hope of freedom anytime soon.

“How much longer do you think they’re gonna look at me the way they are? The way you did?”

Sarah swallowed hard. She thought about Halloween night and how she and Daniel had been separated from one another during trick or treating. Sarah had felt panicked, searching around herself for a few moments for her cousin before alerting her parents and his parents.

She hadn’t really even been able to feel his grace to the degree that she normally could. It was as though something else had had a hold on it that night.

“They’re your family Daniel,” Sarah replied, coming closer and then sitting cross legged on the end of his bed, facing him.

“They love you.”

“They sure aren’t acting like it lately.” Daniel said, an angry look on his face.

Sarah let out a deep sigh and then looked towards the door, listening for any footsteps. When she was convinced nobody was coming to look for either of them, she gave a devious look to Daniel.

“What say we get out of here for a little bit?” Sarah smirked.

“How?” Daniel asked. “The room’s warded.”

“Yeah,” Sarah snapped her fingers and suddenly they were no longer in Daniel’s room, but instead they were outside near the woods beside the bunker.

“Against regular angel grace. It can’t beat an Archangel.”

Daniel looked around in awe. It was a beautiful sunny day, despite the chill in the air, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Birds chirped in the distance and the sound of a breeze shaking the leaves filled his ears.

It wasn’t Heaven, but it was close.

“C’mon,” Sarah motioned for him to follow. “I warded our dads from finding us. Now, let’s go, before anybody catches us!”

Daniel hesitated a moment. It felt strange, breaking his parents’ trust, but ultimately, it was their fault for basically keeping him imprisoned. A dog could only be nice in a cage for so long before it turned.

Daniel heard a familiar chuckle through the whisper of the wind but chose to shake it off and ignore it before running after his cousin with bated breath and intense anticipation.

***

“So,” Dean spoke up. He currently sat at the head of the map table, watching the red lights, and just daring one to blink. The others who surrounded him turned their heads, awaiting his statement.

It had been too quiet on Earth once again. The Winchesters had left the bunker all but twice in the past two weeks. One hunt in Arkansas had been nothing, but a rogue werewolf, whom Dean and Sam had shot dead without question and then hightailed it back home to Kansas in a matter of hours. The other had been a false alarm.

It had left everyone on edge, wondering what was to come next.

“We thinking curse or spell?” Dean finished.

Castiel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and closing his eyes. Sam bit his lip, hoping to have had something to go on by the time of the current meeting, but nothing had stood out in books of lore he’d spent the past few nights pouring over. Gabriel sat beside Sam; his hand placed on the younger Winchester’s knee in support.

Crowley, Adam, Ezra, Ron, and Titan (in his human form) all sat on the opposite end of the table. Kevin and Meg sat beside their respective partners, holding hands under the table, or sitting close to one another. Balthazar and Lucifer were absent, having told Team Free Will they were following hopeful leads in Heaven for the day.

“If it’s a spell,” Crowley mentioned. “It’s got to be one of the strongest bloody ones I’ve ever seen.”

“And the strangest,” Titan piped up. “Did Cathalsis provide an update?”

“He claimed that the energy Daniel was producing was muddled,” Castiel said with a rigid voice. Dean looked over at his boyfriend, feeling a sinking pit starting to form in his stomach.

“It is nothing straight from Heaven nor from Hell, it is something in between.”

“Well, this obviously has to do with my namesake,” Adam said, feeling Ezra’s hand timidly reaching for his under the table and squeezing for a moment before letting go.

“We don’t know that for sure.” Ron said, twirling his knife in his hand as he leaned back in his chair.

“Well, it’s pretty freaking obvious,” Gabriel replied, rolling his eyes as he did so. “Perhaps your brain has been cooked by Hellfire for too long, but surely you haven’t missed the memo on whom we happen to be at odds with right now?”

Ron glared, catching his knife by the Grim Reaper shaped hilt, and then slowly sheathing it in his belt.

“There is no need to fight,” Ezra spoke up, and swallowed hard once all eyes were on him. “We can figure this out.”

“How?!” Dean exclaimed all of a sudden, after banging his hand on the table. “I mean you saw what happened to my kid! It was like some otherworldly thing had control over him! He didn’t even know how he ended up in that field in the first place!”

“We must be thankful that he was unharmed, Dean.” Castiel reminded the hunter, placing a hand on his arm, and encouraging him to sit back down.

Dean sighed, allowing his butt to hit the chair once again.

“I just,” Dean let out a deep sigh. “I’m worried about him okay?”

“We all are,” Crowley nodded and stood up from his chair. “That’s why we’re going to work twice as hard from here on out. Me and Hellboy here have been chasing demons left and right, searching for answers about the big bads’ plans. No solid luck yet, but I have faith that we’re getting there.”

“A demon having faith. How’s that for irony?” Titan snickered and let out a groan when Meg punched him in the side. He shrugged upon seeing her glaring in his direction.

“You’d best be careful with that one now, mutt,” Crowley smirked. “Pregnancy hormones are a bitch.”

A shimmering light filled the room and all eyes turned towards the door as two familiar Angelhounds appeared.

“Speaking of.” Crowley finished.

“ _Your presence is requested with the others, Titan.”_ Chaya remarked, trying her hardest not to stare as Titan nodded and kissed Meg before shifting into his hound form and bidding himself goodbye.

The trio of hounds vanished, and the table got back to nervously fidgeting and blanking out on ideas.

“I say we regroup,” Castiel stood up. “Those who work for Heaven, meet there in the Big House. Those who work for Hell, go with Crowley, and see what you can find. It’s our only option at the moment so let’s just check off that we exhausted it before we find a new one that actually works.”

Ezra nodded and smiled at Adam before flying away with Gabriel in tow. Crowley winked and vanished with a snap of his own fingers before everyone’s eyes. Meg saluted before getting up from the table and walking away towards the bedrooms to rest. Adam gave an awkward nod before motioning for Sam to follow him towards the library for more research. Ron took Kevin’s arm and led him towards the same hallway Meg had gone down.

It left Castiel and Dean alone in a silent, yet deafeningly loud room. Unspoken thoughts filled their minds, never to make it past their half open mouths.

“We will end this Dean,” Castiel nodded, a Warrior’s stance and stare in his eyes.

“I swear to you.”

Before Dean could speak, his angel took off in a flap of wings, and left him alone in the main room of the bunker. He could visit his son, but as soon as he started walking, he stopped. Something held him back. It wasn’t fear, but uncertainty.

He didn’t wish to get Daniel’s hopes up for the time being. It wouldn’t have been fair, to promise him something that, deep down, Dean knew wasn’t mean to be.

Instead, Dean decided to give the kid some space, and went out to the garage to work on the Impala.

There wouldn’t be any point in monster hunting if their trusty ride weren’t in the best shape of its life.

***

All Ron could think about was Halloween night.

What had started as an innocent enough haunted house adventure between him, Kevin, Adam, and Ezra had turned into a literal nightmare in a matter of seconds.

People had run screaming from the haunted house, covered in what they had originally believed to be fake blood, and had sorely been mistaken. Ron had pushed Kevin and Adam in the direction of the exit, promising them that he would catch up, and ran off deeper into the twisted maze to try and find the source of the chaos.

It hadn’t taken long, and Ron’s stomach had dropped the moment he’d seen a familiar silhouette.

“ _The decision should be an easy one,”_ Austin had informed him, knife in hand, and a victim’s body falling from his grasp. “ _Yet, you lack the capacity to make it. Should you change your mind, find us in the next town over or I’ll be forced to expend more lives.”_

The police had showed up twenty minutes later as the trio had made themselves scarce, asking the Hellboy questions about what he had seen, but Ron had remained silent, chalking it up to the current big bads and making sure the three of them remained undetected until they reached the bunker and slammed the door behind them.

Austin had caused yet another slaughter and Ron hadn’t stopped it. He had had the chance, but he had chosen to do nothing instead.

He supposed it had been due to the bloodlust, welling up deep inside him, and threatening to kick down the doors of his mind any day now. It had been months since the last time he’d indulged the monster inside and he could feel the itch building and increasing every day he existed on the Earthen plane. It was becoming increasingly harder to be around his human counterparts. The people he considered his true family.

It hurt worse than any punishment he’d ever endured deep in Hell.

Ron had already spent too much time in Hell away from Kevin in the past few months and he felt immensely guilty about it. The two had barely spent much time together outside of the mission and even the times when they’d shared a bed or each other had been few and far between. Kevin hadn’t openly complained, but heaviness still fell on Ron’s heart, and he could tell that the Prophet was just biding his time and biting his tongue.

It hadn’t taken Kevin long to speak up once the pair closed their bedroom door.

“Are you going with Crowley again tonight?”

The question hung heavy in the air. Ron knew the answer. Kevin knew the answer, but he asked the question anyway.

“Yeah,” Kevin nodded and let out a heavy sigh. “I figured.”

“Kev…” Ron gave him a pleading look.

“Don’t,” Kevin held his hand up, not looking Ron in the eyes. “Don’t try and make a big thing out of this. I know you’re doing it for the cause, but I just…I feel like it’s become the most important thing to you recently.”

Ron stared intensely at Kevin.

“More important that me, even.” Kevin finished.

“Kevin,” Ron started and cupped Kevin’s cheek, trying to make the Prophet look at him. “That’s not true.”

“Then make me believe that,” Kevin turned away, jerking his head out of Ron’s grasp, and letting out a deep sigh. “Look, Ron. I…I love you.”

“But?” Ron choked on the word. He knew it was implied, even if Kevin hadn’t said it out loud just yet.

“Just,” Kevin sighed. “Being around you right now is just…too hard. You’re barely here and even when you are, you aren’t.”

Ron swallowed a hard lump forming in his throat. Kevin wasn’t wrong. Ever since Halloween night, and even before then, Ron had been struggling to fight in the monster inside himself. He’d given Kevin hints, dropped them here and there, about himself and what he was capable of.

The Prophet couldn’t know the full extent of it all. It would surely destroy any chance Ron still had left with him.

“I think we need a break,” Kevin finished. “Not forever, just to get our shit together and to try and save the world. Then…we’ll talk. Okay?”

Ron felt as though he’d just been kicked in the gut. He knew deep down Kevin wasn’t talking about forever, but as someone who was destined to never die, and having spent the last year or so with a man who would only be a part of a small blink in Ron’s existence, Kevin’s words felt permanent.

They felt like a door sealed shut on forever.

Ron swallowed hard, clenching his fists, and trying his hardest to fight back the anger that surged up in his chest and threatened to spill forth from his throat and mouth. He felt his eyes going red. He felt his skin heating up with the stoked fires of the hellish monster deep inside.

Then, Ron stopped, and remembered that this was Kevin. Kevin whom he loved, despite whatever crazy nonsense was going on in the Prophet's head right now.

Kevin Tran, whom he loved more than he had ever loved anything or anyone else in the time that he had come to exist and live.

The Hellboy finally loosened his shoulders, and sighed.

“If that’s what you think is best,” Ron replied bitterly. “So be it.”

Kevin was holding back tears, fighting his own confusion, and hurt, as Ron turned to leave the room. His hand was on the door handle, but it was taking everything he had to make the circular knob turn.

“Take care of yourself Kevin,” Ron said, sincerely, and that was what broke the floodgate and Kevin started to silently cry. The Prophet turned his teary-eyed gaze to the ceiling. Ron hung his head in sadness and frustration.

“See you on the other side, I guess.”

Kevin winced when the door finally slammed shut and the room was silent once more.

The Prophet brought his hands up to cover his tear-stained face and started to cry harder.

***

Meg rolled over in bed and sighed, trying her best to get comfortable, despite her now pregnant swollen stomach and tried to fight the rolling waves of nausea that overcame her every now and then.

Meg blinked a few times, placing a hand on her stomach, and feeling the gentle kicks of all three of her and Titan’s children within her. Meg cocked her head, allowing a small smile to come over her face, and a feeling of deep affection welled up inside the demon’s chest.

She’d taken the time to tap into her vessel’s mind over the past almost century, creating an entire personality for herself based around the human she had ridden as a meatsuit for years now. It had been the first time she had been allowed topside, and despite having failed in her mission, she had grown so much in such (at least what humans would consider) a short amount of time.

She’d pictured so many things for herself, yet there was still something she couldn’t bring forth in her mind.

She had yet to be able to picture the faces of her offspring.

Meg heard a slight ringing sound and in a small flash of light, Titan appeared, in his human form, and smiled at Meg from the doorway.

Meg smiled back, patting the other side of the bed, and Titan walked over, settling in beside his girlfriend and giving Meg’s stomach a soft, caring look before reaching out his hand to move the hair from Meg’s eyes.

“How you doing?” Titan asked.

“My back hurts,” Meg admitted. “I’m nauseous. My feet hurt. My ankles are swollen. Everything hurts.”

“My condolences,” Titan winced. “On all levels, considering this is my fault.”

“I wasn’t finished,” Meg gave him a cutesy smile and cupped his dirty blonde stubbly cheek. “It’s been the most beautiful experience of my life, despite all the hardship.”

Titan nodded, kissing Meg’s hand, and allowing her to rub his cheek with her thumb.

“You want to know about the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?” Titan asked.

“Don’t be cheesy.” Meg chuckled.

“Hey,” Titan playfully pushed Meg’s shoulder and laughed. “While that is also my answer, it’s not the one I was going to tell you.”

Meg nodded, motioning with her hand for the Angelhound to continue his story.

“I was there when Pompeii happened,” Titan explained. “I remember just standing there with my assigned angel when the volcano first started to blow. The heat was so intense it melted their version of a sidewalk beneath me. The ash covered everything, but I just couldn’t stop staring.”

“Why?” Meg asked, cocking her head ever so slightly and grunting at the feeling of one of their children kicking against her vessel’s ribs.

“There was something so pure about it,” Titan continued. “The fear coming off those humans and the sheer power of that piece of Father’s creation. It was raw. It was true, but it was agonizingly heartbreaking. I could have saved so many people that day, and all the proof I have of ever even being there is a pawprint in the now hardened mud before I vanished and let everyone die.”

Titan swallowed hard and Meg gave him a comforting look.

“Balthazar told me it was time to go,” Titan continued. “That there was nothing more we could do. I can’t let that happen this time. There’s too much at stake.”

Titan placed a hand on Meg’s stomach.

“At that time,” Titan finished. “There was nothing for me to fight for, but Heaven. I’ve never known what true family felt like until now. I don’t want to lose it.”

“We won’t,” Meg placed her hand over his. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over these years, it’s that the sheer willpower of a Winchester is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Sam and Dean and the rest of us, we’ll win this. If I had to bet on anybody, at any given time, it would be Sam and Dean Winchester, hands down, every time.”

Titan broke into a bright smile and kissed Meg, allowing himself to be overcome by the human emotion of love. An emotion that he could say he had finally mastered identifying in all his time on Earth.

The moment was broken as fast as it had come.

“What is it?” Meg asked, concerned.

“Daniel is no longer in the bunker,” Titan explained, his eyes lighting up with power as he got up from the bed. “He isn’t in danger, but I can’t sense him here. Nor Sarah.”

“Go get ‘em, before they get in some serious trouble.” Meg nodded, encouraging him to go after the Nephilim.

Titan nodded, smoke surrounding him as he morphed into his hound form, and then vanished before the demon’s eyes off to bring Sarah and Daniel back home.

***

“Sorry that we’re back here,” Sarah apologized, as the pair made their way across the empty field, and realization hit Daniel like a train.

“I just figured it was the emptiest place around here so we could have some time alone before we’re found out and dragged back to house jail.”

“It’s fine,” Daniel swallowed hard, taking in the sight of the familiar tree from Halloween night. Not only Halloween night, but from his dream as well. He heard the whisper of laughter once again, in the wind, but tried his best to ignore it once more as he slowly meandered over to the tree trunk where his cousin loosely held onto the bark and leaned away from the tree, spinning herself halfway around the tree trunk and then jumping off the roots onto the grass.

“I like it here.” Daniel finished.

“Is that why you came here Halloween night?” Sarah asked.

“My friend told me to come here,” Daniel explained, debating whether or not to expand on his explanation after the incredulous look Sarah gave him.

“He told me it’s a special place,” Daniel looked up at the almost empty branches. There were a few dying leaves left on the tiny twigs, but none were green as they had been in his dreams.

“He told me I could be myself here.” Daniel swallowed hard, touching the tree trunk gently with his fingers.

“So, do it,” Sarah encouraged him, and Daniel turned and stared, confused, at his cousin.

“Let’s practice our powers,” Sarah said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen what you can really do.”

Nerves flooded Daniel. His cousin’s words took him by surprise. It was rare that the two Nephilim ever showed off their powers, in fact they hadn’t really been given much time beyond a few training sessions here and there to practice with them.

It was tempting, but every fiber of Daniel’s being screamed at him to disregard the invitation.

“ _Do it,”_ his friend’s voice filled his head. “ _When will you get another opportunity like this again?”_

Daniel broke into a cheeky smile and raised his hand as a ball of pure grace filled energy appeared in his hand.

***

Daniel couldn’t hear anything, but the ringing in his own ears and the gentle echoing sound of Titan reprimanding him.

Daniel hadn’t comprehended anything the hound had said in the past few minutes. He could only picture, over and over again, Sarah slamming into the tree trunk and crying out in pain.

His cousin was still holding her arm as the trio walked back towards the bunker, Titan in the lead in his hound form, walking with a stoic gate and anger in his eyes.

Sarah refused to look at Daniel.

Daniel felt remorse, but something else tugged at his insides. Something that told him to feel otherwise.

_“Look at her,” his friend had said, invisible to Sarah, but standing beside Daniel as the pair play fought with their powers, shooting beams of power back and forth and dodging them with ease._

_“Asking you to show off like some kind of trained zoo animal.” His friend rolled his eyes and crossed his arms._

_“Pathetic. I wouldn’t stand for that if I were you.”_

_Daniel’s brain had gone into anxiety override. What if his friend was right? What if Sarah was being nothing short of an ass in that moment? Suddenly, Daniel felt a surge of annoyance come up through his body, and he conjured up a powerful dose of energy and shot it her way._

_Sarah hadn’t had a chance to dodge it and had ended up slammed up against the tree in the field, causing two dead leaves to flutter to the ground in the process._

_Daniel stared in shock at what he’d done, but hesitated a moment, waiting for the feeling of remorse to come forth._

_It never came, but he still lurched forward to Sarah’s side because it was the proper thing to do._

Titan motioned for the hounds at the front of the bunker to step aside, and they, some of them begrudgingly, bowed as he pushed Sarah through the front door. She looked back only once at Daniel, giving him a sad look, but somehow there was still a hint of love and loyalty left in it.

The door closed behind her and Daniel looked, embarrassed, over at Titan.

“ _I won’t tell your dads about this,”_ Titan explained, his hound eyes turning from glowing white back to their usual wolfish color. “ _But you must promise me you will never go to that field, ever again.”_

Daniel bit his lip, swallowing hard, and then going to protest.

Instead, he swallowed his words, and simply nodded and hung his head in shame.

 _“It’s not safe for you there,”_ Titan explained. _“The energy there is immensely unrecognizable by even something as ancient as me. I do not like it. Promise me, Daniel. Promise me you’ll never go back.”_

Daniel understood the pain and fear that went along with Titan’s words of caution. The hound was right. The place was clearly cursed. Too many bad things had happened to Daniel every time he’d traveled or ended up there, and there was no point in going back.

Yet, he still felt tied to it, and he just couldn’t let go no matter how hard he tried.

So, against Daniel's better judgment, he muttered under his breath, put a warding around his mind that even Titan couldn't break through, and the young Nephilim lied.

“I promise, Titan.” Daniel nodded.

Titan hung his head and let out a deep sigh, walking off towards the door, and then waiting for Daniel to follow.

 _“They’ll never understand,”_ the voice came back. _“But I always will.”_

Daniel followed the hound back inside and managed to get back to his room before anybody noticed that he had ever even been gone in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> The plot thickens! Ron and Kevin? Broken up?! Say it ain’t so?! Titan and Meg preparing to be parents in the midst of another apocalypse. Daniel fighting with himself and his own doubts. Team Free Will, exhausted and doing their best to win a fight that the hardest part has barely even begun.  
> More to come soon, and more answers will come as well!  
> See you then!


	12. Dream On

Ron Ryder stared down at his phone for the fifth time in the past hour, sighed, and tried to ignore the blood running down his left arm and the ringing in his ears.

The ringing only intensified when Austin’s voice finally broke through.

“Hey dimwit,” Austin snapped his fingers in Ron’s face and Ron shook his head, before slowly pocketing his phone.

“Let’s get a move on before those little mud monkeys of yours get wind of this!”

Ron looked over at the sight of Tess and Terry slinging the dead bodies of several human children into a dumpster. Their arms were slicked with deep maroon blood down to the undersides of their fingernails. Tess looked over at Ron, weary, and helped her brother Terry chuck the last body into the large rusty green container.

Ron’s blade felt heavy in his hand, but still he sheathed it in his belt, only after wiping it off on a nearby scrap of old yellowed, and probably pissed on by homeless people, newspaper. Austin stood before the scene, holding a small circular object in his right hand that was filled with milky white liquid that almost looked as though it was also made of air.

“Kid’s souls really are the purest,” Austin smirked, turning back to look at Ron. “Don’t you agree?”

“Let’s just get this over with.” Ron replied, curtly, and Tess took hold of Austin’s shoulder to talk to him before he was able to respond.

The pair talked in whispers before Ron checked his phone for a sixth time, his heart dropping at the sight of the last unanswered text bubble he’d sent Kevin Tran about a month ago. The same Kevin Tran who he’d walked away from that same month prior, in anguish at the thought of what had sounded like the Prophet calling it quits on their relationship.

The same Kevin Tran, who when he felt this amount of cosmic energy being released, would send the Winchesters to the source, as he had with every kill prior to this one. Ron and company had always made themselves scarce and made it so that they couldn’t be traced, but it still felt wrong. Like a game of cat and mouse gone wrong.

If Dean and Sam knew Ron was partly to blame for these atrocities, they’d never let him get within five feet of the bunker ever again. Not without his own knife going through his gut beforehand to immobilize him, or worse.

The Winchesters killed monsters, and they’d unknowingly allowed one to become part of their family so many moons ago. Ron had resisted the urge to feed on human souls and essence for so long, but the time he’d spent with his family in the past month had proven just how much of a scourge upon the earth he truly was.

“Alright,” Ron started to turn around. “Where to-?”

Ron stopped speaking abruptly at the sight of Austin’s knife pointing directly at the Hellboy’s chest. Ron’s eyes scoped upward, meeting Austin’s red-ringed eyes, and sinister smile.

“Where to next?” Austin started and then snickered. “For us? Paradise. For you? Eternity.”

Ron dodged at the last second, just as Austin thrust his knife forward, and barely nicked Ron’s skin in the process. Ron stumbled backward, his fingers stinging in pain when he hit the brick wall behind him hard. His eyes blew wide, staring at his bloodthirsty cousin before him.

“You see,” Austin explained. “You played house with those humans for so long, it’s begun to impair your judgment.”

“Austin,” Ron warned, throwing his hand up in defense. “Don’t do this.”

“You no longer serve our parents’ vision,” Austin continued, slashing at the air as Ron jumped away from every attempt on his life, and trying his best to reach for his own knife in the scuffle.

“Hades and Charon have made it clear, as I’m sure Croatoan will agree once he’s freed from his Hellish prison,” Austin sneered. “Your head on a silver platter and your soul to the cause!”

Ron’s phone dropped out of his pocket onto the ground below and the screen cracked ever so slightly, as he leapt onto the now closed dumpster lid, and watched as Austin followed him. He looked over at Tess and Terry, who looked just as terrified as he did. Clearly, they hadn’t been privy to this part of Austin’s plan.

Or rather, the plan for the new world order, if Ron didn’t do something quick.

“What soul?” Ron chuckled, jumping backwards off of the dumpster, and tossing a nearby brick at Austin to distract him. His dismount was faulty due to it and gave Ron just enough time to take off running down the alleyway.

“After him!” Austin screamed, but Ron didn’t take the time to look back.

Ron ran faster, his mind ablaze with many flames of thought, and the last being Kevin, staring at him with a disappointed gaze. Ron shook the image off, ducking to the right at a fork in the alley’s road, and pressing himself up against the wall until he could think of a plan.

His gaze shot to the fire escape above him and Ron smirked before his eyes went red and he sprung into the sky.

***

Austin growled upon rounding the corner, Tess and Terry close behind him, but halfheartedly following. Austin looked around so violently, he could have been mistaken for having a seizure. The grip he had on the hilt of his blade tightened, so hard in fact, his palm started to bleed.

“Where the hell is, he?!” Austin announced so loudly his voice echoed off the walls of the nearby buildings.

Tess was the first to look up.

Before Austin could comprehend what was happening, Ron dropped from up above, and latched his legs and arms onto Austin’s shoulders. The pair jerked, Austin thrashed, and Ron ground his teeth and tried his best to hold on.

Ron held his blade up to Austin’s throat, cutting in slightly to allow blood to trickle down below his collarbone. The Hellboy smirked and brought his face to Austin’s ear.

“You tell your father, and mine too for that matter,” Ron grunted and then whispered. “I’m done being their bitch.”

Austin broke into laughter and headbutted Ron from behind. The Hellboy grabbed at his nose and lost enough of his grip that he went tumbling to the ground behind where Austin stood. His blade went flying, half tucked underneath another nearby dumpster, and Ron felt his heart leap and then dive to the bottom of his stomach.

Ron had turned onto his stomach, trying to reach for it, but quickly turned over when he felt eyes on him. Austin kicked him in the ribs several times until Ron could feel blood welling up in the back of his throat. He spit it out into a tiny pool on the concrete and whined. Austin had his blade raised above his head, savoring the fear that was running through Ron and surely showing in his eyes. Ron closed them tight, letting his last thoughts be a silent prayer to Kevin about sorry he was, and then allowed his hand to fall to stop protecting him from what was sure to come.

The blow never came.

Ron opened his eyes upon hearing a gasp and seeing Austin’s blade shoved through Terry’s gut. Terry choked a few times, coughing on blood that was now rising up into his mouth, and Austin looked shocked as ever, barely able to move to remove the blade.

Then, Austin stabbed Terry deeper, and the Hellboy’s head shot back as his eyes went bright red and the life slowly leaked out of him. Ron heard Tess screaming in the background.

“One of Croatoan’s lesser desired children,” Austin remarked as he opened the circular capsule one last time and held it out. “But still qualifies as the final ingredient.”

Terry’s soul slowly leaked out from his mouth, dancing through the air, and finally nestling itself in the capsule. Austin’s mouth broke into an evil smirk the moment he snapped it shut.

A moment later, the earth begun to shake. Slowly at first, but then rather violently. A few humans were yelling something about an earthquake in the distance, but the Hellchildren ignored their cries. The sky turned an unnatural shade of black and gray and Ron scrambled to his feet, not realizing the extent of his injuries until he tried to move. The pain was excruciating. Austin had clearly broken something or knocked something loose, but Ron had no time to ponder.

The Hellboy took off running, as fast as he could manage, and tried not to black out as spots danced before his eyes.

Tess went to chase after him, but Austin stopped her with a death grip on her arm.

“Let go of me!” Tess tried to jerk her body away from him. “You killed my brother, you-!”

“Monster?” Austin finished for her, thrusting her away from him and Tess gasped upon expecting to fall on her ass, but instead she was held up by another pair of arms.

“That’s rich, coming from you, my dear.” Austin said.

Tess looked up at the person who had caught her. The man was about average height with crew cut brown hair and eyes greener than any emerald. His bone white smile made goosebumps appear on Tess’s arms. The woman who stood beside him had flaming red hair and similar colored eyes. They were both dressed like regular humans, even down to their shoes, but Tess could tell they were anything but human.

The man thrust her forward, but still kept a hold on her arm. The surrounding area stopped shaking and the man started to chuckled at the sight of Tess basically wanting to piss her pants.

“Sorry for that rather earthshakingly big entrance,” the woman smirked, revealing white teeth from behind red lipstick-stained lips. “We were always a dramatic pair.”

“Eve,” Austin nodded. “Adam. Your ties to Hell have officially been broken upon our fathers allowing you to escape when Hell fell victim to Abbadon’s curse. Now, I do believe you owe them one.”

Austin handed off the capsule full of souls they had either cultivated by themselves or had monsters acquire for them. Austin had to admit, as fun as it had been to take Ron’s little friends on a wild goose chase, the next part was going to be even more satisfying than the first.

Eve took the capsule in her hands and smiled.

“This will do nicely,” Eve commented. “More than enough souls for the spell. Well done.”

“I live to please.” Austin bowed his head at the pair and Tess resisted the urge to roll her eyes until the very last second. Her stomach flipped upon seeing Terry’s lifeless body laying in a pool of his own blood a few feet away from everyone.

“Strap yourself in then, kid.” Adam remarked, staring up at the sky before smirking. “The new world order will be coming sooner than you think.”

***

Castiel sighed, slamming the book he’d been reading shut, and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He’d poured over every entry of lore surrounding Adam and Eve, even taking in what he knew from personal interactions with the pair, but nothing came to mind or was in the texts regarding how to stop them. The first time the duo had had to be stopped, the Warriors had cornered them, but it had been the archangels and God who had delivered the final blow and locked them away.

God, who was missing from the picture once more.

Castiel felt anger boil up in him, hitting his fist hard against the table, and abruptly pushing the chair in as he stood up. The angel turned on his foot, stomping out of the Big House’s library, and then stopped.

He had tried for the past month to talk his Father, and to no avail had he succeeded, all because of the damn guards at His door. Castiel had to get them to go away.

He needed a distraction.

***

The leftover chemicals in Cathalsis’ medical laboratory had proven to be most helpful in creating a mock attack on another part of Heaven, and, in the chaos, Castiel had slipped past the guards headed in the direction of the explosion and let himself into his Father’s study.

The Seraph carefully and quietly latched the door behind him and looked around. Very few angels had made their way into God’s private writing room over the millennia, and under normal circumstances Castiel would have been honored and humbled to stand in this very room.

Something still felt off though. Something made his suspicions grow and his stomachache, the more he started to snoop around.

There was a desk nearby, with many empty drawers, but a chaotic top. Papers, with Enochian scribbled on them, strewn about atop more papers, and underneath that there were a few clasped journals. Castiel picked one up, studying the intricately beautiful lock on it, and then fiddling with it to break it.

It broke open, zapping Castiel’s fingers a bit in the progress, and the angel dropped it in pain.

The open pages fluttered for a moment and then the Enochian symbols and words became clearer. Castiel read over them as he clasped his slightly burnt hand. The tips of his vessel’s fingers were singed, and he hissed upon touching one of the burns.

The words flew by the faster the Seraph read, and his heart begun to pound with fear and realization.

So much so, that he didn’t feel the angel blade to his throat until it had already happened, and he’d tried and failed to move forward.

“A good writer never stops writing, even if he believes he’s told all the stories he has left to tell,” Chuck’s voice came from behind Castiel and the angel looked over his shoulder to see the two guards standing behind him and each taking a hold of one of his arms and spinning him around to meet the steely gaze of their Father.

“But a great writer,” Chuck continued, his fingers playing with a blade that glinted in the light. “A great writer never stops writing and editing and writing and editing until he gets it _just_ right.”

Chuck nodded at the two guards and they suddenly stepped aside, allowing Castiel enough time to get his own angel blade into his hand, but not before Chuck twisted his hand and the Seraph went shooting backwards, pinned to the wall, unable to really move.

Castiel grunted, staring in shock at Chuck.

“In all my centuries upon centuries of storytelling and creating worlds,” Chuck glared, pacing back and forth before the angel. “I never had any problems. Everything always went off without a hitch. Every character played their parts with flawless precision and ended their storylines right where they were meant to end.”

Chuck came closer. Castiel tried, once again, to free himself from the wall.

“Never challenging my ideas,” Chuck continued, tossing the blade He held from hand to hand. “Or the way the story was supposed to go. That is, until I got a little niggling in my head to create two more characters. The perfect ones, really, or so I thought. Sam and Dean Winchester. Those two idiots were meant to be my greatest storyline ever. Then the idea of you, coming to their aid, teaming up with them. It was brilliant! Yet you were broken, are broken, and now I realize the grave mistake I have made in allowing this little story to play out for longer than it should have.”

“You came back for the sole purpose of this,” Castiel glared, choking as Chuck tightened His hold on him. “This was never about your children, your family. This was always about your pathetic little stories!”

“A pathetic little story made you into what you are to this day,” Chuck replied. “A story made everything you have in your life possible. So, don’t. Or I could take it all away just like that.”

Chuck snapped for emphasis, but nothing happened. Castiel was still stuck to the wall. He could still sense all of his family down below on Earth, healthy and safe for the time being. Chuck’s eyes bore into his, and his Father took Castiel’s chin in his hand and forced him to look Him in the eyes.

“I wrote a new ending to the best story ever,” Chuck smirked. “I finally have it right where I want it, and I won’t let you and your ragtag gang of misfits ruin it. Not this time, Castiel.”

Chuck nodded at both guards, before they stepped even further aside, and Castiel was released from the wall. Upon catching his bearings, he grabbed his angel blade off the ground, and started to run towards Chuck, who had transported Himself to the other side of the room.

“Let those who no longer stand with me,” Chuck twisted his hand and Castiel felt himself being lifted up from the ground. “No longer have a home here within my kingdom and with me.”

Castiel’s eyes went wide when he realized he was falling, as rapidly and in the same fashion as he had once before so many years ago, down to Earth.

***

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the smell of old record sleeves and vinyl cleaner, and then placed his hands in his pockets, walking away from a crate upon a table filled with records.

He and Sarah had decided to invade the only record shop in town for lack of a better thing to do at the moment. The bunker was empty, everyone having decided to spend their day either hunting the bad guys or with one another off doing something, and Sarah had insisted it was best that Daniel not spend any more of his time alone.

The two cousins had gone through yet another growth spurt in the past month, having aged in normal human years to appear about sixteen years old. Their parents had conjured them up new clothes, taken note of the increase in their powers, and actual (yet fake) identification cards and, with a snap of his fingers, Gabriel had instilled the knowledge of driving into Sarah’s mind. Dean had protested, wanting to teach his son himself, so Sarah was in charge of most of the transportation if the cousins didn’t fly into town.

Rarely were they allowed out, since the family still wasn’t any closer to capturing and stopping Adam and Eve, but Sarah had also somehow inherited the power of smooth talk and, more often than not, got them what they desired.

This time, she had desired a new classic rock record and the phone number of the cute boy who worked behind the store’s counter.

Daniel had been allowed to accompany her only after verifying he’d drank his daily concoction from Cathalsis and then he’d be sent on his merry way. It also helped that both of his parents and uncles were out of the house for the day, two following a lead in the form of a potential hunt and two off in Heaven or with other angels trying to find answers.

The fact of the matter still stood that it didn’t matter whether or not Daniel had drunk Cathalsis’ potion. It hadn’t worked from day one.

Something he’d never told a soul that lived with him or interacted with him on a daily basis.

Daniel’s dreams had gotten worse leading up to the next growth spurt. Dreams of the same field, the same tree, and the same man and boy (whom he’d now learned were the same person) beckoning him to come back, despite warnings from his family to stay away. Titan and his fellow Angelhounds had even found Daniel sleepwalking one night, towards the direction of the field, but had redirected him back home before anything had come of it.

That was when Cathalsis had been called in. The medic angel had created a potion up in his heavenly medical lab, one designed to prevent Daniel from dreaming at all, much less dreaming about the empty field and his friend.

What Daniel had neglected to tell everyone was that he had been spinning tales and spitting lies from the moment he’d taken the first sip. The dreams hadn’t lasted as long at first, but they’d still happened. They’d still come about, despite Cathalsis’ efforts. Whoever was making them come to him (Daniel suspected his friend was to blame) was far too powerful for an angel’s efforts to take hold and make a difference.

If anyone knew the truth, Daniel would be locked up for the rest of his life in the bunker, never seeing the light of day and his resentment and anger towards his family, who surely already viewed him as a freak, would most definitely grow.

So, he played the ignorant quiet fool, and kept his hands in his jacket pockets as he watched Sarah’s attempts to flirt with the human boy before them. She’d watched a few YouTube videos over the last week to teach herself the ways.

It was comical to watch, either way. Daniel smirked and nodded at her after the boy bagged up her purchase and rubbed at the back of his neck upon saying goodbye to her.

Sarah walked back over to Daniel, slightly red faced, and gave her cousin a look upon seeing the way he smiled at the scene.

“Nicely done,” he commented. “I think that internet education is finally paying off.”

“Shut up,” Sarah snorted, and the pair exited the shop, a bell chiming to signal their departure. “I’d like to see you try.”

“With the way our lives have been going recently,” Daniel commented. “And for the majority of the time we’ve been alive, it’s probably best if I don’t.”

“Oh c’mon,” Sarah nudged his shoulder. “You’re not as goofy looking as you used to be.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that everything about our lives is dangerous,” Daniel replied. “Now and probably forever. Besides, your dads would kill you if you brought a boy home to the bunker.”

“You’re probably right,” Sarah sighed. “But hey, once all this crap is officially over, we can finally live our lives, right?”

Daniel pondered her comment for a moment. It was true, once things returned to normal there would be no reason to hide anymore. No reason to keep him locked up. No reason to fear him and his being.

That being said, it would be due to Daniel’s absence, but he wasn’t about to open up that can of worms just yet. It was hard enough, seeing his family going through such trials and tribulations.

It was even harder knowing it was all because of him.

_“A brave new world,” his friend had explained in the latest dream. “A door to be opened, and you are and always have been the key.”_

Daniel was so lost in thought it took him a few minutes to snap back into reality and realize Sarah was still talking to him.

Also, that the streetlights had begun to flicker abruptly in the middle of the day.

Sarah quieted upon Daniel pointing up at one, and then another, going down the line and other pedestrians had begun to take notice as well. Suddenly, the ground below the two cousins started to vibrate, softly at first, but then it grew more violent as it continued. Daniel and Sarah looked around, then over at one another, and then back at the record shop, which they realized was crumbling ever so slightly with how old the building was.

The pair rushed back inside just as the building starting falling in on itself. Sarah had the counter boy’s arm slung over her shoulder, and the boy coughed, immensely confused at what was happening.

The cousins were confused as well, until they looked up at the sky.

“What’s happening?” Sarah asked, watching as rather large streaks of light flew downwards towards Earth, and her mouth remained agape and her eyes open wide at the sight.

Daniel stood, stone faced and mouth slightly ajar, having seen this same scene once before.

That dream had lasted about five minutes, but this was the only part he remembered.

_“The end of the world,” he recalled his friend saying. “The beginning of His most compelling story yet. Isn’t it beautiful?”_

Daniel waited for fear to cross over him, as it already the other human citizens around him and Sarah, but he hadn’t counted on contentment reigning supreme instead.

***

The woods were suddenly awash and afire with light and Adam Milligan slowed down his pace to a gentle jog before he stopped running entirely.

Ezra followed close behind him. The human had been teaching the angel about the joys of running, and so far, even if the angel didn’t benefit from the behavior in any particular way, he was enjoying himself. Besides, as he’d come to determine over the months, he’d do pretty much anything Adam asked, and, if Ezra didn’t know any better, it was for a reason other than the sheer blind devotion he’d displayed over his millennia of existence.

All of the angel’s newfound human-like emotions went into overdrive the moment he saw the fear in Adam’s eyes, and understood why.

Bright lights streaked across the sky. Fast and flaming, and Ezra, despite being slightly mesmerized, felt the need to attend to the strangeness. He thought perhaps there had been a mishap up in Heaven.

Ezra spread his wings, nodding at Adam, and giving him a silent promise to return, and took off.

It didn’t take long for the angel to come thudding back down to earth and leave a rather sizeable imprint in the dirt. Adam ran over to him, taking him by the arm, and looking down at the disoriented angel.

“I don’t…understand.” Ezra remarked, looking back up at the sky and the flaming fireballs that just kept coming and coming.

***

It took all, but five minutes for Crowley, Meg, Titan, and the others who had come back to the bunker early to get right back outside.

Flaming fireballs streaked across the sky and clouds and the group watched in awe, feeling small bursts of power in the distance when one landed. Kevin had cried out moments earlier, complaining of a terrible pain in his head, and Meg had helped him up from his seat when he’d pointed towards the front door.

Balthazar worriedly looked over at Lucifer, who stared upward stone faced and his vessel’s mouth was in a thin line. Eventually, his eyes turned their menacing shade of red, but still, he didn’t budge. Almost as though he couldn’t. Crowley stared, mouth open, at the sight. The King of Hell hadn’t witnessed something of this nature in over a year or more.

Titan growled, shifting into his hound form, and trying to transport himself to Heaven. Moments later, the hound was propelled back down to the ground, unwillingly shifting back into a human, and he hit it hard, feeling his power take a significant hit as well. Meg rushed over to him as quickly as she could in her current pregnant state and took him by the arm, trying to talk to him.

Titan could barely register her touch or her words through the tears in his eyes as he stared upward.

***

Dean gripped the steering wheel hard and pressed on the gas.

Sam sat in his rightful place in the passenger seat of the Impala and stared forward at the seemingly endless road.

The brothers had driven through the night, back to Lebanon from some small backwoods town that Charlie had turned them on to upon hearing some “hunting noise” passing through. She had kept going, but insisted the brothers let her know if she were needed, and she would turn around.

Dean had insisted instead, on her being safe, and told her to keep heading to Jody’s house.

So, Charlie had, and Dean and Sam had rolled into town and come upon the leftovers of a slaughter. Children’s bodies were stuffed in a dumpster in an alleyway. It had taken everything Sam and Dean had to hold it to together through the whole talk with the local LEOs and once they’d been given full run of what was left of the crime scene, they’d proceeded to vomit up their lunches in another nearby alley before getting back to work.

Having children of one’s own changed a man, and apparently hunters weren’t immune to that fact either.

The thought that had stuck with Dean even more so than the horrific images burned into his brain for all eternity, was what the brothers had found at the crime scene.

Another body of a young man, dead about as long as the other victims had been but laying in an alley further away from the original crime scene. There hadn’t been much of a struggle, but evidence showed that the kid had been stabbed.

Dean’s trained eye, far better than the backwoods police, had found a familiar looking blade under another nearby dumpster. A blade that now rested in the arsenal in the Winchester’s trunk. A blade that Kevin Tran would be disappointed to see, and Dean’s heart and stomach had sunk upon finding it along with a phone, with a cracked front and smeared in blood, that had Kevin was proudly the subject of its lock screen.

Dean and Sam hadn’t seen Ron Ryder for over a month and, as much as Dean didn’t want to believe it, he suspected this was why.

Despite that, it had left the brothers with another dead end for the time being, and even less of a clue as to what the other side was up to than before. It left Sam with a headache from research that he had now put down in the floorboard of the car, and it left Dean with no choice, but to turn up the sound of Aerosmith’s _Dream On_ to drown out the silence.

The beginning of the first chords was interrupted by Sam’s voice.

“What the hell?” Sam breathed out as he looked out the windshield in pure shock.

When Dean finally saw the source of his brother’s anxiety, he slammed the brakes so hard they squealed, and the brothers exited the vehicle faster than a lightning strike. Dean stood, hypnotized by what looked like shooting stars, but it was daytime.

And he had seen such a sight once before.

“I never thought I’d say it,” Dean managed to speak. “But the angels…they’re falling…again.”

Sam was too distracted, muttering a prayer to Gabriel under his breath, and closing his eyes. Upon finally gaining his bearings, Dean tried to the same approach.

They were met with two loud bangs nearby and the brothers fell to the ground, witnessing two smoking craters forming before them and two figures shifting inside them and groaning.

Once the dust had settled, Dean and Sam stared, wide eyed, at their significant others laying in the holes.

“Gabe!” Sam cried out and leapt to his feet, running over to the archangel, and helping him up. Gabriel coughed and remained in a daze long after Sam lifted him into his arms.

Dean reached Castiel’s side next, taking the angel into his arms, and felt his body start to shake and convulse. Dean leaned back, taking in the sight of Castiel’s tear stained face and the angel’s trembling lip.

“This was the plan all along,” Castiel said, and Dean tried his best to keep up with the angel’s ramblings.

“This was always the end to the story.”

“What are you talking about Cas?” Dean asked, concern evident in his face.

“Chuck did this,” Castiel explained. “He’s behind it all. He never wanted to come home for His children, but for His new world to begin.”

Realization hit Dean and Sam like a train as Castiel spoke. Gabriel hung his head, leaning into Sam, and closing his eyes in defeat and pain.

“Chuck wrote it all out and I saw it in His office,” Castiel finished. “He intends to let Adam and Eve along with the three biggest threats in Hell walk free and He intends to be there when it all goes down.”

Dean and Sam looked at one another with defeated looks.

“So, what you’re saying is,” Dean finished for him. “Once again, we’re hopelessly and utterly screwed.”

Castiel hung his head and Dean pulled the angel closer to his chest.

“Son of a bitch...” Dean muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Crazy times ahead for Team Free Will and for the world, but if anyone can handle it, it’s them! I do hope those who are reading this story are enjoying themselves! It won’t be much longer until a conclusion is reached, but in the meantime, I will see you in the next chapter!


	13. A Loss Paves Way For A Win

_Daniel’s head was spinning, and his stomach was flip flopping rapidly._

_He was back in the same field as before, standing before the same vibrant tree, and staring up at the crunchy leaves that were still being beckoned to the ground. Daniel felt his arms tingling, as though he were jittery from drinking way too much coffee, but he knew it was his powers._

_Powers that were dragging him to the tree. Powers that were flooding through him and growing stronger the closer he got._

_“So, this is it,” Daniel commented as he continued to stare at a falling leaf, feeling a presence behind him._

_“There’s no going back.”_

_It was meant to be worded as a question, but even though he’d given his friend a chance to reply, Daniel already knew the answer._

_“If He has written it,” his friend stepped forward from where he stood, taking his place on Daniel’s left._

_“It is meant to be.”_

_“I’m not even supposed to be visiting you anymore,” Daniel replied. “They don’t know I still am.”_

_“Are you going to tell them?” his friend asked, almost like a threat._

_“Would it even matter if I did?” Daniel asked. “It’s going to happen no matter what.”_

_“Good boy,” his friend chuckled and reached over to ruffle Daniel’s hair. Daniel went rigid._

_“You’ve truly got what it takes to be a martyr.”_

_Daniel had closed his eyes upon the touch, and reopened them, feeling the wind whoosh by him as his friend disappeared into nothingness. Daniel sighed, hands still in his pockets, and he watched another leaf fall._

_There were now only five leaves left._

***

Daniel gasped and shot up in bed, grasping at his chest, and trying to catch his breath.

The dream had, once again, felt so real, and he swore he could still feel the chill of the wind in the field even within his bedroom in the depths of the bunker. Daniel untangled the dark blue sheets from his legs and pushed the plaid blanket away from him.

His body felt like it was on fire. His grace surging within him and he felt like a human in the bitter cold, like his fingers were going to fall off and they started to hurt. His flexed them, wincing at the sensation, and closed his eyes, trying to slow his heart rate.

The more time passed, the more he calmed down, the easier it was to feel his extremities.

Daniel looked over at his side table, searching for what was left in the bottle of Cathalsis’ concoction. He swirled the electric blue liquid around at the bottom of the glass and observed the way it moved. He knew he should drink the rest, take care of the problem.

Yet, another part of him refused. His only friend was a man in his dreams, and as much as Daniel simultaneously hated him and all he stood for, he was really all Daniel had.

It was a strange type of Stockholm Syndrome.

Daniel took a small swig of the potion and pursed his lips as the sour liquid traveled down his throat and spread all throughout him. Then, it was all quiet. His mind stilled.

Voices from down the hall, surrounding the map table, filled his ears instead.

Daniel got up from his bed, and quietly snuck down the hall to see what the fuss was about.

***

“Well, I, for one, did not see this coming.” Crowley commented, blowing air from his cheeks while his eyes went wide.

“None of us did, Crowley.” Dean muttered, sighing loudly, and balling his hand into a fist that he placed upon the table. His other arm went to his forehead, pinching the skin and trying to mend a headache.

“Once I find a way to get back up there,” Gabriel glared and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m gonna kick my old man’s ass all the way back to wherever the hell he was hiding before now!”

Sam reached for Gabriel’s hand, squeezing it to try and calm his archangel boyfriend down, and closing his eyes as, he too, sighed.

“I guess the only question is where do we go from here?” Crowley asked.

The five men at the map table remained quiet. Nobody was able to formulate any words or ideas. Dean’s gaze fell upon Castiel, who sat across the table from him, and hadn’t said a word since the whole conversation had begun.

In fact, Castiel hadn’t spoken in over twenty-four hours since he’d crashed landed into the highway in front of the Impala and fell into Dean’s arms the night before. Dean had cradled Castiel close to his chest, fighting his own sleepiness to keep an eye on his angel.

Castiel hadn’t even bothered to look Dean’s way, and Dean’s stomach had sunk, feeling a melancholy helplessness when it came to actually helping his boyfriend.

“Here’s what we know,” Dean said. “God dicked us over, we’ve got three big bads coming up from Hell along with the two assholes we’ve already got, and we’ve got those big bads’ little minions killing people left and right for reasons we don’t know.”

The others looked at Dean with confusion, wondering why he was stating the obvious.

“But we’ve got a good team,” Dean continued. “We’ve got connections in Hell and I might just have the craziest and dumbest idea I’ve ever had.”

“Go on.” Crowley motioned for Dean to continue.

“The last time we were faced with a threat from Hell,” Dean explained. “We closed Hell to anyone except those who belong there. The first time, we opened a door.”

Sam’s stomach flipped upon hearing Dean’s words.

“You mean the cage?” Sam swallowed hard. “You want to reopen the cage.”

“When Abbadon’s spell broke,” Dean replied. “It broke the cage. It’s how Michael got out and possessed me. It’s how Adam and Eve managed to walk free. It’s how we’re going to stop the evil this time around.”

“How are we even going to open up Hell?” Gabriel questioned. “You said it yourself, it’s locked.”

“Where there’s a lock there’s a key,” Crowley replied, and all eyes were on him. “I believe that key is somewhere on the Demon Tablet. I’ve given my best men access to Earth and they are searching for it, you know, since we lost it the first time around.”

“Kevin will translate,” Dean said. “And when those assholes and Chuck make their move, we’ll be there to throw them into the pit and close the door behind them.”

“You want to throw _God_ in the cage?” Sam’s eyes widened.

Daniel, who was hiding around the corner and listening, widened his eyes and tried to picture the scene his father was describing. Nowhere in his dreams had he seen this ending. Nowhere in his dreams had he heard this part of the story.

But would it actually work? That was the real question.

“It’s the only idea I got,” Dean cocked his head, looking Sam in the eyes. “He made it strong enough to contain Lucifer, I’m sure it’s strong enough for the others too.”

“Dad made the cage,” Gabriel said. “He’ll know how to bust out of it.”

“We’ll change the password,” Crowley looked over at the archangel with a playful smirk. “Another benefit of the Demon Tablet.”

“If you think this’ll work,” Gabriel replied nervously.

“It’s the only shot we’ve got.” Dean replied, with confidence.

The group dispersed, Crowley promising an update on the tablet as soon as he knew anything before, he vanished, and Gabriel and Sam making their way down the hall towards their room. Daniel cloaked himself up against the wall, closing his eyes even though his family members couldn’t see him.

Dean and Castiel came next, Castiel tiredly staring forward, and the fact that it was possible for an angel to be tired worried Daniel even more.

“Talk to me.” Dean said and Castiel hung his head, staring down at the floor.

“Forgive me,” Castiel replied. “My Father’s betrayal appears to be affecting me more than I thought it would. I suppose I need to refocus my energy. I fear I have neglected those closest to me in the process.”

“Cas you don’t need to apologize,” Dean said, placing his hand on the angel’s shoulder. “God knows I-.”

Dean stopped himself at the mention of Chuck. Castiel turned ever so slightly to look his way.

“What I mean is,” Dean continued. “I was taught from a young age to repress my emotions. They were weakness. They were a distraction from the job at hand. I know now that my dad was wrong about that.”

Castiel turned fully around, giving Dean a comforting look. Daniel noticed the same look any time his father mentioned his grandfather. Daniel had never met the man, but based on the small snippets he’d heard, he was proud of that fact.

“You’re allowed to feel the way you do about Chuck,” Dean continued. “Honestly, I’m pissed, but the sad thing is I saw something like it coming. Nobody disappears for centuries and then suddenly comes back just because it’s convenient.”

“Can we please stop talking about it,” Castiel’s tone became sharp and Dean swallowed a lump starting to form in his throat.

“I’m not mad, I just want to get started on the plan as soon as possible. My Father will pay for His sins.”

“Damn right He will,” Dean pulled Castiel close, ran his fingers through the angel’s hair, and the hunter’s hand came to rest and cup the angel’s cheek.

“I love you, and our life, no matter how crazy it’s gotten, and our family. I will stop at nothing to protect all of us.”

Dean closed his eyes and kissed Castiel, resting his forehead on Castiel’s, their noses still touching.

“I love you too, Dean.” Castiel replied.

Daniel felt guilty. Guilty at the thought of his destiny interfering with his father’s plan. Guilty at the idea of how he’d still managed to keep his mouth shut about what he knew regarding the whole thing. Guilty at the idea that he had essentially been born just to end the world.

But it was his cross to bear. His part of the story.

If he had anything to do with it, he would make sure that nobody suffered due to his actions.

He had to keep everyone who mattered to him safe and alive, no matter the personal cost.

***

Ron Ryder’s breathing was ragged and there was a small rattling sound coming from his damaged lungs, but the Hellboy kept moving. He had to keep moving or he would certainly be tracked down by Austin and Tess and finished off as Austin had originally intended.

Ron slumped up against a nearby wall, gazing down at his shaking bloody hand that covered the deep wound he had suffered. The Hellboy’s vision was blurry, spots dancing before his eyes, and pain shooting through his bruised body.

It had taken a lot of his remaining power to transport himself close to Lebanon, but not enough had sufficed to get him anywhere close to the bunker. In fact, he had crash landed in an alley two towns over, and it had taken him two hours just to gain the ability to walk.

Ron absentmindedly reached for his phone that was no longer in his pocket. He recalled losing it in the fight with Austin and he hadn’t had time to turn around and search for it. He’d simply had to run for his life.

Whatever his life was worth at this point.

Flashes of images of the things Austin, Tess, and Terry had done with Ron in tow went through the Hellboy’s mind in quick succession. Details of slaughter, bloodshed, and soul stealing caused Ron unnatural pain, more pain than his injuries, in fact.

The thing was Ron hadn’t killed a single soul in such a way in the entire time he’d spent with his blood related family.

He’d had to feed, so he’d chosen an old man who was already dying and asked him beforehand. It had been one of the strangest interactions Ron had ever had, even more so than his time rowing the boats, and regarding all of the souls he’d ever taken into Hell. The man had been ready to go, allowing Ron the bloodletting before his heart had finally given out, and Ron had taken off into the night before the nurse had arrived in the man’s room.

Yet, it didn’t make Ron feel like any less of a monster than he knew, deep down, he was.

Now, his cousins were roaming free, awaiting the rise of all of their parents for a new world order, and Ron simply wanted to give up, curl up, and cry.

Kevin went through his mind next.

Ron tried to move his mouth, tried to form the words normal people could form and utter in houses of pure love and forgiveness all around the world, but Ron’s curse was to never be able to speak the words, much less do the action.

It was the first time he’d ever tried to pray to Kevin and the words had literally burned his mouth from the inside out.

Instead, Ron managed to lift himself to his feet, and stumble to the last remaining payphone in town. Even if prayer could never come, miracles could be achieved.

 _“Hello?”_ Kevin’s voice was like an oasis in the desert.

Warmth flooded Ron’s insides, or maybe it was blood. He couldn’t tell.

“Heya Kev,” Ron wheezed out. “Sorry for the radio silence, but I figured you wanted it that way.”

“ _Ron?”_ Kevin’s voice came out small, almost timidly.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Ron whispered.

 _“Where are you?”_ Kevin asked, worriedly.

“Two towns over from Lebanon,” Ron wheezed out. “I can’t move I-.”

“ _Ron?!”_ Kevin exclaimed.

Ron felt the receiver slip from his hand and fall to the ground by his feet. He hissed in pain, clutching at his bleeding wound and felt his legs buckle. Kevin’s voice started to trail off as Ron felt his eyelids flutter closed and unconsciousness overtake him once more.

***

Titan sighed, overlooking the situation and the remains of the monsters surrounding him and his fellow hounds. He, Tojo, and a hound named Leon directed the other hounds at Titan’s disposal to push the monstrous bodies into one giant pile to be disposed of via their angelic power.

Bane watched from the sidelines, observing Titan’s careful precision as a leader. His intense nature, but gentle guiding hand. His immense power, but knowledge of when and when not to use it.

“ _You couldn’t have picked a better hound to lead us.”_ Chaya remarked.

 _“Good to know my choice is well received by the masses.”_ Bane replied.

Chaya observed her best friend with the intensity of the sun watching over Earth.

Their conversation before the arrival at the fight they had just finished had been a simple one. Titan had checked in on her, as he had with all the others, but with genuine and different concern for each hound. Some deeper, some just surface level.

Chaya had always been like a sister to him. Something that disheartened her to her core, but she’d never told him.

And now she would never have the chance.

_“Meg chose the name Kayla for one of the girls. Her vessel wanted a daughter with that name. I liked the name Emma for the other. We’ve yet to figure out the right one for the boy.”_

Titan had simply been excited to make conversation about the developments in his life. Chaya had felt her heart sink further and further with every word he spoke.

 _“You are troubled, young one.”_ Bane remarked.

Chaya continued to stare at Titan, as he discussed what to do next with the others, providing them with answers and roles. Fatigue weighed heavy in the hounds eyes, both in that form and in his human one, but he never stopped. He never gave up on protecting and defending his family, even in the face of unexpected adversity against his creator, and the fact that all the hounds were now stuck on Earth, trying to find a way back home and to help stop the end of the world in the meantime. He was also an expecting father of triplets with a demon, on top of all that.

No pressure, or anything.

 _“You love him,”_ Bane lowered his voice, his large dark Newfoundland eyes, staring deep into Chaya’s soul.

 _“It doesn’t matter,”_ Chaya replied. _“He looks at her as though she hung the moon. There’s no stopping that.”_

 _“And I can respect the fact that you choose not to.”_ Bane replied.

 _“When you meet your intended one,”_ Chaya explained. _“Your heart cries out only for them, even if someone else’s heart cries just as loud to yours. I will follow him until the end though, that’s what we’re made to do.”_

 _“Your fierce loyalty serves you well young one,”_ Bane addressed Titan with a nod as the hound begun to walk over. _“It will continue to take you far in this eternal life.”_

 _“The attacks are coming faster and more often,”_ Titan explained to his superior. _“They’re forming a circle around Lebanon. I think we’re getting closer to the bad guys making their move. They’re trying to keep us busy while they prepare for it.”_

 _“We will continue to defend The Winchesters until they have time to formulate and act upon their plan,”_ Bane nodded. _“Let us hope the end does not come before then.”_

Titan nodded, looking off into the distance and listening. There was no doubt in Chaya’s mind that Meg was communicating with him through his mind, and the female hound tried her best to swallow the bitter taste forming in her mouth.

“I must go,” Titan shifted into a human, his sky-blue eyes slightly dimmed from their normal light. He was exhausted but refusing to give in to the weariness.

“Chaya,” Titan said. “Meet me at the bunker when you’re all done here. I’ll give everyone their next orders once I know where we stand. You’re in charge until I’m back.”

 _“Yes Titan.”_ Chaya bowed her head, closing her eyes, and when she opened them again, Titan was gone.

Chaya’s heart felt heavy, for her master Lucifer’s loss of his newly reacquired home. For what was left of her own sorrow of being cast away from the only place she’d ever known. For Bane’s words left over in her mind.

Tojo stared at where Titan formally stood with disdain. The others anxiously awaited instruction.

 _“You heard the man,”_ Chaya announced, more determined than before, and pushing her own emotions aside as she took a step forward from where she and Bane stood.

_“Get rid of the bodies! Then, we move out.”_

Bane gave her a small smile as Chaya commanded the hounds and then also vanished before the leader of the Angelhound Council’s eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Drama, action, and a plan all in one go?! Who would have thought? Here’s hoping that those who are keeping up with this story are entertained. I’ll see the lot of you in the next chapter real soon!  
> Everybody stay safe and well!


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